Jack Takes Four As Hampshire Fall
31 July 2014
Jack Taylor claimed 4-38 from 9.2 overs as Gloucestershire beat Hampshire by 35 runs in the Royal London One-Day Cup clash at the Bristol County Grund.
A second successive victory in the 50-over competition looked unlikely when the visitors reached 150-3 chasing a modest target of 234 to win.
But spinners Taylor and Chris Dent, who bowled three over for eight runs, put a brake on the scoring and the pressure told with three run outs as Hampshire folded to 198 all out.
Will Gidman returned 2-47 from ten overs, but it was Taylor's day and he ended the match by bowling Will Smith for 47 in the 48th over.
By trapping Jimmy Adams lbw with his first delivery, Jack completed a sort of hat-trick as he had taken wickets with his last two deliveries of the previous game against Yorkshire at Headingley.
It is not officially recognised as a hat-trick because it spanned two different matches, but is nevertheless an interesting statistic.
Earlier against Hampshire, Will Tavare had marked his first one-day appearance for Gloucestershire by top-scoring with 77, having been brought in at the expense of Tom Smith to bolster the batting.
Benny Howell contributed an unbeaten 43, but the general consensus was that the hosts were 30 or 40 runs light when bowled out for 233.
It didn't prove that way thanks to some excellent bowling and fielding, which left Director of Cricket John Bracewell more than satisified.
He told this website: "I think because of the expectation level we placed on ourselves at the start of this competition the lads were a bit edgy going into the first game.
"In the last two they have relaxed a bit more and set about their work. Some good old fashioned cricket won this match, with some accurate bowling backed up by excellent fielding.
"Jack Taylor has waited a long time to put in that sort of performance for us after remodelling his action. The 50-over game gives spinners more of a chance to make an impact than T20.
"We felt it was a 270 pitch and that our score was light. But we managed to turn the game around midway through Hampshire's innings and that meant the pressure went onto them.
"It was good to have Gareth Roderick back behind the stumps. Adam Rouse has now left us, having made an excellent impression.
"He will be a decent first class cricketer for the county who sign him. We have three very good wicketkeepers and do not have the budget to carry any more."
For more details on the win over Hampshire click on Cricket and then Match Reports.
