Newton and Crook foil bid for victory
25 May 2016
The opportunity for a second successive Championship win was thwarted by centuries from Rob Newton and Steven Crook as Northamptonshire salvaged a draw from this Division 2 match at the Brightside Ground.
Newton's dismissal for 108 shortly after the second new ball was taken appeared a key moment, only for Crook and Prasanna to counter attack with some venom in adding 48 in only eight overs.
Crook continued to score quickly after Prasanna was out and completed the fourth first class hundred of his career, finishing 103 not out. It was his century stand either side of tea with Gleeson for the eighth wicket which took the game out of Gloucestershire's reach, and the captains shook hands when Northants had reached 399-8 in their 2nd innings, 157 runs ahead.
Listen to head coach Richard Dawson's thoughts on the draw here :
Gloucestershire began the final day as the only team with a realistic hope of winning the match, and optimism among the members was enforced in only the seventh over when Richard Levi (23) played a loose shot at David Payne and Roderick made no mistake with the catch.
Adam Rossington's appearance at number six came after he dislocated a finger in his left hand while keeping wicket on Monday, and although the deficit was 98 when he joined Rob Newton - who was 58 not out overnight - both went for their shots with the off side, especially square of the wicket, proving a profitable area.
Payne and Miles had shared the first 11 overs when skipper Roderick made a double change by introducing Noema-Barnett and Shaw, but the pattern and the modest threat with an ageing ball remained largely unchanged, Rossington welcoming Jack Taylor into the attack with a straight six towards the pavilion.
In the end it was Craig Miles who was the stand breaker in a short spell before lunch, Rossington scooping a ball low to mid on where Payne held his fourth catch of the match to dismiss the Northants wicketkeeper for 39.
Steven Crook survived until the interval when Newton, like Michael Klinger 24 hours earlier, was 99 not out. Northants were still in 18 runs in arrears at 224-5, and the result seemed sure to hinge on the second new ball which was seven overs away.
Newton duly completed his hundred upon the resumption from 208 deliveries and with 17 boundaries, and Northamptonshire had cut the deficit to a single run at 241-5 when the new ball was due.
Gloucestershire looked to have an hour to take a grip on the game, and the joy which greeted Newton's stumps being splayed by David Payne for 108 belied what was to follow.
Both Crook and the incoming Prasanna took the view that to ensure a draw their best option was to attack as every run tilted the equation in Northamptonshire's favour. In eight overs they added 48, Crook continuing to pepper the off side square of the wicket and Prasanna even picking up a delivery from Payne and clearing the long boundary towards the Mound Stand for six.
The Sri Lankan's brief cameo was halted by substitute fielder Callum Gregory, who was positioned at deep square leg for the hook and safely took the chance when the spinner, having made 26, got underneath a short ball from David Payne.
Richard Gleeson then joined Crook with Gloucestershire still marginal favourites, and while Gleeson concentrated on survival, Crook's brisk collection of boundaries continued. His fifty contained nine of them, and by tea he was 82 not out and Northamptonshire's lead was 115 with a maximum of 34 overs left in the day.
A last burst from Miles and Payne failed to produce the required breakthrough, and Crook went to his hundred from only 127 balls with 17 fours. Gleeson, in only his sixth first class match, was lbw to Graeme Van Buuren for 31 shortly before the close, but adding 101 with Crook for the eighth wicket had been a stand too far for the Gloucestershire attack.
Gloucestershire take 11 points from the draw and Northamptonshire 7.
