Durham defeated in final hour at the Festival
25 July 2018
Gloucestershire picked up their second Championship win of the season at the College Ground after a collective effort from their bowlers on the final day, dismissing Durham for 298 as they chased 340 for victory.
Only 11 overs remained when Chris Rushworth edged to wicket keeper Gareth Roderick after half an hour of stubborn resistance alongside Mark Wood, who was left 61 not out.
Durham had a good platform at 168-2, before three wickets fell for 14 runs and thereafter Gloucestershire chipped away at Durham's lower order to seal a win by 41 runs with Matt Taylor, Craig Miles and Ryan Higgins sharing the wickets that brought 23 points.
Watch Matt Taylor's reaction to the win here:
POST MATGH REACTION: Matt Taylor looks back at the 41 run victory over @DurhamCricket in which he took 4-31 on the final day. pic.twitter.com/uGaecJZK0A
— Gloucestershire CCC (@Gloscricket) July 25, 2018
Based on the fayre at the Cheltenham Festival over the last two matches, there isn't a lot wrong with Division 2 Championship cricket. Gloucestershire have had two hard fought games which have both gone to the final session of the match, and certainly the tussle with Durham was in the balance for much of the last day.
The visitors' mathematical equation - to score 305 runs in 96 overs - was not a "chase" in the true sense of the word. The run rate required was barely three an over but the magnitude of the total created its own pressure. Only twice had Durham succesfully reached a greater target to win.
Their start was brisk enough. Openers Cameron Steel and Tom Latham added 44 in the first hour, chiefly against Craig Miles and David Payne, before a double change saw Ryan Higgins and Matt Taylor put a brake not only on the boundaries but the scoring in general. Gloucestershire skipper Chris Dent employed two short mid wickets to check Latham's most profitable area, and after a tight spell which included 34 balls without a run, the Durham captain edged Matt Taylor to Roderick having made 45 out of an opening stand of 94.
The wicket came half an hour before lunch and after Steel was almost caught and bowled by Taylor, the ball dropping just short on his follow through. A glance to fine leg brought up his own fifty from 127 balls and with the experienced Will Smith alongside him, Durham started the afternoon session needing a further 219 from 65 overs but Steel was unable to settle again, given out lbw to Craig Miles for 62 in the second over.
Only Stuart Poynter and Michael Richardson in the Durham side had previously made Championship hundreds this season, but the elephant in the room was Ben Stokes who was due in at number five, and for a while it looked as if he might come in with just the sort of platform he relishes.
Will Smith and Graham Clark both went for their shots, adding 42 in ten overs and with no real turn for George Drissell they played the off spinner without undue worry to keep Durham in time with the clock. It was Higgins who stopped their progress, a low one handed catch by Roderick removing Clark for 30 and Gloucestershire had Durham on the back foot when the middle order was ripped out in six overs.
Already the team's leading Championship wicket taker, Higgins added Will Smith (32) to his tally as the former Hampshire man was lbw, and it seemed a pivotal moment when Matt Taylor bowled Stokes off an inside edge. He was already trending on Twitter when Poynter was bowled playing back, and a spell of 2-9 in five overs brought the second new ball into the game after tea.
With 114 still needed from 34 overs, the wickets column would have concerned Durham more than the time available, and they had an escape when Mark Wood was dropped by Miles Hammond at cover. Four boundaries from Wood in one Craig Miles over followed, so it was to Chris Dent's credit that he kept faith in his bowler with Durham's target down to 80, Miles responding by trapping Michael Richardson lbw for 26 and then bowling Matt Salisbury within the space of four balls.
No specialist batsman remained, but Wood - batting in some discomfort from a foot injury that saw him bowl only six overs in the match - tried his best to keep Durham in the game with a 74 ball half century which took matters into the final hour after Harding clipped a gentle catch to Bracey off Matt Taylor.
Tactically it left Durham between two stools. Could the last wicket pair block for 16 overs, or was 54 runs a realistic target ? In the end they achieved neither, the irrepressible Higgins drawing the last edge of the match from Rushworth and Roderick joyously bagged the winning catch.
