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Gidman delighted with Gladiators victory

27 July 2012

Alex Gidman was full of praise for his Gloucestershire Gladiators side after they beat the Netherlands by 90 runs on the Duckworth/Lewis method to move up to second in the Clydesdale Bank 40 Group A.

With a fair number of Gloucestershire supporters present at the VRA Ground in Amsterdam, the Gladiators made 290-6 from their 40 overs before the Netherlands were bowled out for 146, having been given a rain-revised target of 237 in 28 overs.

Rob Nicol, in only his second game for Gloucestershire, made a brilliant 133 from 113 balls and also took two catches and a wicket. The bowling honours, though, went to fellow New Zealander James Fuller, who returned a career-best 6-35, just three days after he had the misfortune to concede 38 from one over in the Friends Life t20 quarter-final defeat to Sussex at Hove.

"I'm really pleased with the win," said Gidman. "It was a good wicket, a quick-scoring ground and it turned out to be a real fight. Credit to Holland for the way started their innings. They really put us under pressure and we were lucky with the rain break to an extent because they gifted us a couple of wickets. It was a good game of cricket."

Gidman also hailed the "awesome partnership" between Nicol and Marshall, who put on 102 in just under 17 overs for the first Gloucestershire wicket.

He added: "I thought the wicket would get harder to bat on throughout the day. It didn't actually change that much, but that partnership gave us a good platform and we managed to kick-on towards the end of the innings."

The Gladiators now face another big CB40 game on Monday, when they take on fourth-placed Lancashire at Old Trafford, knowing that victory will put them above Middlesex at the top of the group.

For a full report on today's game see the match reports section on this website.

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