Hughes' hundred secures draw for Derbyshire
20 April 2016
Gloucestershire were unable to force a victory on a docile Brightside Ground pitch as the first home Championship match of the season ended in a draw against Derbyshire.
After the fireworks of the third day from Gloucestershire's batsmen, Derbyshire overcame the early loss of Ben Slater to comfortably erase their 119 run deficit on first innings shortly after lunch.
Opener Chesney Hughes went on to complete the hundred which he had missed by a boundary in the first innings, and with Hamish Rutherford making 78, the draw was on the cards long before the captains shook hands when Derbyshire declared their second innings at 260-2, 141 runs ahead.
Listen to the post match thoughts of head coach Richard Dawson here :
The tempo of the Gloucestershire first innings on the third evening forced the match forward but while it gave them valuable time to try and bowl Derbyshire out in their second innings, the lead of 119 was small enough to give the visitors confidence to save the match.
Realistically Gloucestershire needed a strong start with a clutch of early wickets, and the door was opened in only the fourth over when Liam Norwell deflected a drive by Chesney Hughes onto the stumps at the non striker's end with Ben Slater out of his ground.
Derbyshire skipper Hamish Rutherford then joined Hughes, and for a brief spell their running between the wickets suggested another run out could be on the cards with some hesitant responses to calls.
Given only 20 wickets had gone down for more than 1000 runs over the first three days, it looked a tall order for Gloucestershire to bowl out the visitors cheaply. Skipper Gareth Roderick maintained attacking fields until a flurry of five boundaries in two overs after Liam Norwell switched to the Ashley Down Road end and Josh Shaw had been introduced into the attack, four of them to Hughes.
Barely an hour of the day had elapsed before Jack Taylor's off spin was in operation but both left handers were watchful, concious that the enthusiastic but inexperienced Shaw was finding nothing in the pitch from the other end.
Hughes twice cut the Yorkshire loanee for four to bring up his half century from 75 deliveries with 10 boundaries, and with skipper Rutherford quietly accumulating runs in tandem, Derbyshire were only 14 runs behind at lunch with nine wickets in hand.
The afternoon followed a predictable pattern, Jack Taylor continuing to wheel in from the Pavilion end and Gloucestershire skipper Gareth Roderick sensibly using his other bowlers, including the occasional slow left arm spin of Chris Dent, in short spells to share the work load.
Rutherford squirted away his sixth boundary to third man to bring up his half century from 107 balls, and once Derbyshire were in front in the match, it became a sedate affair on a pitch which had behaved almost perfectly from the first morning.
To that end Rutherford will have been frustrated to have clipped Taylor to short cover and seen Chris Dent take a smart catch when he had made 78. The Derbyshire skipper had added 174 with Hughes who, having made 96 in the first innings was intent on not falling short a second time, and a cut off Taylor brought up his century from 194 deliveries.
The Leeward Islands left hander struck 16 fours, and then weighed in with a six in the last over before tea to help Derbyshire's lead to reach exactly 100 with eight wickets in hand at the start of the final session, where the only moment of note - and concern - was a blow to the left hand of Gareth Roderick which necessitated Cameron Bancroft taking the gloves for the last eight overs.
In the end, the visitors declared as soon as they were permitted to at 260-2, with Hughes 137 not out and Madsen 27 not out. Gloucestershire take 12 points from the draw and Derbyshire 8.
Gloucestershire's next match starts on Sunday April 24th, when they welcome Worcestershire to the Brightside Ground for a Championship game for the first time since 2006.
