Northants show resolve after Klinger's century
24 May 2016
At the major golf tournaments across the globe, the third round is often referred to as "moving day", when the serious challengers get into position.
Gloucestershire's push towards victory here over Northamptonshire centred around an innings of 140 by Michael Klinger who, helped by the lower order, helped Gloucestershire to add 178 runs to their overnight score.
They were eventually dismissed for 418, a first innings lead of 242, with Klinger the last man out having batted for almost six and a half hours. David Payne continued his run of useful scores with 32, adding 76 alongside Klinger for the ninth wicket.
Tea was taken between innings, and it left Northamptonshire 42 overs to bat in the final session. They lost Duckett and Wakely cheaply but a resolute stand between Newton and Keogh saw them reach the close 122 runs behind at 120-3, Keogh having been dismissed shortly before stumps for 30.
Listen to Michael Klinger's close of play thoughts here :
Gloucestershire began the day looking to bat as far into it as possible, with a greater eye on their first innings lead rather than any batting points they might collect on route.
With Hamish Marshall dismissed off Monday's final delivery, Michael Klinger was joined - albeit briefly - by George Hankins, who misjudged the line of a ball from Ben Sanderson in the third over the day and saw it dislodge the off bail.
Adam Rossington's dislocated finger again kept him off the field so Ben Duckett once again kept wicket for Northants, and their skipper Alex Wakely used Sanderson and Richard Gleeson throughout the first hour, as Klinger and Kieran Noema-Barnett slowly set about extending Gloucestershire's lead.
Klinger didn't score a run for until half an hour's play had elapsed, and then drove Sanderson down the ground towards the pavilion for four. Noema-Barnett was also watchful until leg spinner Prasanna was introduced, hitting him with the spin over the mid wicket boundary for six before mistiming a similar stroke and allowing 'keeper Duckett to come from behind the stumps and take the catch.
The left hander had made 23 out of a stand of 58 in 20 overs with Klinger, and while the Australian played at his own pace, two more wickets were to go down before lunch at the other end, both to catches at the wicket.
Jack Taylor's breezy 24 was ended when Duckett held onto a chance off Prasanna, and the deputy for the injured Rossington also held a routine opportunity to remove Craig Miles off Gleeson for a duck. It meant Klinger, who had scored 35 runs in the session, went to lunch on 99 not out, Gloucestershire's lead standing at 157 with two wickets in hand.
When Klinger and David Payne returned to the middle, the popular Australian had been in for almost five hours, and he completed his century in the grand manner, cleanly lifting leg spinner Prasanna over the rope in front of the pavilion five balls after the resumption.
The Sri Lankan bowled an unchanged spell of 14 overs and as Klinger's relentless accumulation continued Payne's confidence grew, picking off anything short from the leg spinner and the belatedly introduced Azharullah, who didn't bowl at all in the morning session.
Payne's share of a stand of 76 with Klinger was 32 when Prasanna switched ends and decieved Gloucestershire's number ten as he came down the pitch and Duckett had an easy stumping, and the wrist spinner finished with 5-97 as he finally removed Klinger for 140, a marathon effort which spanned 286 balls, and which included two sixes and 14 boundaries.
Tea was taken early to absorb two overs into the interval, and with a lead of 242 Gloucestershire went hunting the 10 wickets that would give them back to back wins in the Championship at the Brightside Ground.
Craig Miles drew blood virtually straight away, as Ben Duckett chipped a ball in the second over straight to substitute fielder Callum Gregory at mid on. Both Miles and Payne beat the bat as Rob Newton and Northamptonshire skipper Alex Wakely tried to entrench themselves until stumps, only for Wakely to be undone by a bowling change as he was trapped lbw for 14 in Kieran Noema-Barnett's first over with only 28 on the board.
Thereafter, as the ball got older, the balance between bat and ball gradually favoured Northamptonshire's third wicket pair of Newton and Rob Keogh, the latter taking three fours in an over off Noema-Barnett.
Together they added 71, Newton playing a lot between mid on and mid off as Gareth Roderick used six different bowlers trying to get another breakthrough before the close. It finally arrived with less than seven overs remaining, as Rob Keogh (30) saw George Hankins cling on - in orthodox fashion - to a chance off Jack Taylor at short leg.
Newton completed his half century of 99 balls with nine boundaries, but Northants will start the final day still 122 runs in arrears, and with Gloucestershire seven wickets away from their second Championship win of the summer.
