Hammond hammers home bowlers' teamwork
30 August 2018
An innings of 68 in 99 balls by Miles Hammond made a mockery of Leicestershire's earlier troubles with the bat as Gloucestershire tightened their grip on this Championship match with two days now remaining at the Brightside Ground.
Together with skipper Chris Dent, Hammond added 107 for the first wicket after the collective effort of Gloucestershire's four man attack delivered the tightest performance at the Brightside Ground this season to earn a first innings lead of 91.
Only against Kent at Canterbury in April had Gloucestershire dismissed a team for a lower score, and Leicestershire's plight would have been worse had night watchman Gavin Griffiths not made an unbeaten 36 in more than three and a half hours.
Ryan Higgins took his tally of Championship wickets to 35 with figures of 4-26, with Craig Miles, David Payne and Matt Taylor taking two wickets each as Leicestershire mustered only 111.
47 overs remained in the day when Gloucestershire went out to bat after tea, and after Hammond and Dent's century partnership James Bracey helped his captain add a further 45 runs before the close, when Gloucestershire had reached 152-1 in their second innings, giving them a healthy overall lead of 243.
Watch all rounder Ryan Higgins' thoughts on the day here:
CLOSE OF PLAY REACTiON: Ryan Higgins reflects on an excellent day for @gloscricket during which he took 4-26 in @leicsccc 1st inns. The overnight lead is 243. pic.twitter.com/RbYVaGyxWS
— Gloucestershire CCC (@Gloscricket) August 30, 2018
With a modest first innings score to defend, David Payne and Craig Miles were given the responsibility of chasing early wickets. Gavin Griffiths had made 20* and 16* in Leicestershire's last Championship game against Kent, and his concentration alongside skipper Paul Horton enabled the overnight pair to add 37 in just under an hour before the introduction of Ryan Higgins drew an edge from the Leicestershire skipper and Gareth Roderick took the first of three catches.
Thereafter the innings was processional around Griffiths, who whilst not scoring freely put a high price on his wicket, twice continuing after taking painful blows on his right hand from Matt Taylor and David Payne.
He lost two further partners before lunch, Ackermann seeing his off stump knocked back by a delivery from Higgins that swung late and Craig Miles bowling Cosgrove with a ball close to yorker length.
All three wickets in the morning session had been taken from the Ashley Down Road end, and with limited rotation of the strike Leicestershire had added only 67 in 29 overs, Griffiths facing 86 balls for his 24 runs and whilst he held up one end, Gloucestershire gradually worked their way through the rest of the Leicestershire batting.
Three overs after the resumption Roderick snapped up a two handed catch off Miles to send back Dexter, and it wasn't long before he took an easier one as Eckersley got tucked up by a delivery from Payne, who took the first wicket of the day from the Pavilion end.
Craig Miles' spell either side of lunch had the impressive figures of 8-5-10-2, and with a quartet of front line bowlers to rotate skipper Chris Dent was able to maintain the pressure on Leicestershire's lower order, Matt Taylor and Ryan Higgins mopping up the last four wickets for only six runs whllst Griffiths looked on. There hadn't been much substance to the batting around him, and with tea taken early when Leicestershire were all out for 111, Gloucestershire still had 47 overs in the day to build on their first innings lead.
Initially there was little change in the pattern of the game, with Mohammad Abbas and Ben Raine making Dent and Hammond work for a meagre 19 runs from their opening burst, but with Griffiths used sparingly, Paul Horton turned to Dieter Klein and Neil Dexter only for their direction and control to be lacking as the Gloucestershire openers picked off a succession of boundaries, particularly through the covers.
Hammond's half century, from 76 balls, contained a six over the wicket keeper as well as seven fours, and he'd made 68 out of a stand of 107 in 31 overs when he pushed at a Dexter delivery and found Ackermann at second slip.
Dent, circumspect by comparison, compiled his fourth Championship fifty of the summer from 107 balls with nine boundaries, and took the lead past 200 by working Dexter off the back foot past point.
Bracey kept his captain company for almost an hour until stumps, when the lead had advanced to 243, leaving Gloucestershire holding all the tactical cards as they try to force a third win of the season in Divison 2 from a dominant position.
