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Rahane & Handscomb the match winners as Leicestershire end Glos quarter-final hopes

14 August 2024

Ajinkya Rahane and Peter Handscomb staged an outstanding match-winning partnership of 120 as Leicestershire beat Gloucestershire by four wickets on the Duckworth/Lewis/Stern Method at Bristol's Seat Unique Stadium to book a quarter-final berth in the Metro Bank One Day Cup.

Chasing a revised target of 196 in a contest reduced by rain to 36 overs a side, the Foxes registered their fifth win in six games in Group B with 14 balls to spare, the fourth wicket pair of Handscomb and Rahane scoring 65 not out and 62 respectively. 

Having already raised two hundreds in the competition this season, Handscomb reaffirmed his rich vein of form, the Australian mustering 5 fours and 2 sixes in a superbly-judged innings of 70 balls, while Louis Kimber contributed a quickfire 28 in 18 balls to put the outcome beyond doubt as Leicestershire recovered from 19-3 to win with something to spare.

Put into bat on a used pitch beneath low cloud cover, Gloucestershire struggled to build partnerships and came up short on 192-9, Cameron Bancroft top-scoring with 36. Leicestershire took full advantage of the damp conditions, seamer Tom Scriven claiming 3-37 from seven overs and Liam Trevaskis and Alex Green weighing in with two wickets apiece in a disciplined performance with the ball.

Victory helped defending champions Leicestershire secure a second-place finish in Group B and their reward will be a home quarter-final tie against Hampshire at Grace Road on Friday in a repeat of last season's final.

Their confidence high on the back of four wins in five matches, Gloucestershire were buoyed by an opening stand of 50 between Bancroft and Miles Hammond in 10.4 overs. But things changed quickly following the introduction of Scriven, who bowled Hammond for 19 to spark a decline which saw the home side lose seven wickets for 95 runs in 18 overs.

Gloucestershire's cause was further hindered by the return of rain, the elements forcing the players to leave the field with the score on 55-1 after 12 overs. When play finally resumed, a further four overs had been lost and the situation now required urgency on the part of Bancroft and new batsman Joe Phillips. 

Leicestershire made the most of favourable circumstances to assume control thereafter. Bancroft had advanced his total to 36 from 51 balls when, no doubt frustrated by lack of progress, he chanced his arm against Scriven, attempting an expansive on-drive and falling to a brilliant diving catch by Handscomb at mid-on. Teenage seamer Green then had Phillips, who had scratched 10 from 32 balls, held by Rahane at mid-wicket to reduce the hosts to 76-3.

The defending champions continued to turn the screw, slow left armer Trevaskis luring dangerman Jack Taylor into an ugly shot, Gloucestershire's captain holing out to short fine leg for eight. Scriven accounted for James Bracey for 18, the left-hander falling to another fine catch at mid-on by Handscomb, at which point Gloucestershire were 109-5 and in danger of falling short.

With 11 overs in which to make an impact, Irish international Curtis Campher announced himself with two successive sixes at the expense of Green, only to be caught at the wicket off the bowling of Roman Walker after raising 21 from 14 balls, a score matched by Ben Charlesworth when he was bowled by Trevaskis. 

It was left to Graeme van Buuren and Tom Smith to pick up the pieces, Gloucestershire's veterans deploying all their considerable knowhow to stage a restorative alliance of 32 in 6.1 overs for the eighth wicket. Green had van Buuren held in the deep for 17 in the penultimate over, Smith finishing on 27 not out from 23 balls.

A Gloucestershire bowling unit denuded by injury and call-ups to The Hundred and England Lions, nevertheless made the perfect start, Josh Shaw striking with his first and fifth deliveries to remove Ian Holland and Lewis Hill without scoring. Fellow seamer Dom Goodman got in on the act in the sixth over, Sol Budinger miss-timing a pull shot and holing out to mid-on as the Foxes slipped to 19-3, requiring a further 177 to win at 5.8 an over and already heavily dependent upon Rahane and Handscomb.

Leicestershire's fourth wicket pair saw off the new ball bowlers, punished the occasional poor delivery during tight spells from Campher and Smith and took advantage when Gloucestershire, short of seam options, sought recourse in Charlesworth for the first time this season, to stage a 50 partnership in 10 overs and put pressure back on the home side.

Rahane was first to his half century, attaining that landmark via 59 deliveries and bringing up the 100 partnership in the process, while Handscomb required seven balls fewer to realise 50 as the required rate came down to five an over for the first time.

Having accrued 7 fours and a brace of sixes, Rahane was looking to accelerate when his 76-ball innings came to an abrupt halt, Hammond taking a catch at short extra off the bowling of Smith to afford Gloucestershire the breakthrough they so desperately needed. But Kimber promptly smashed 23 in one over from van Buuren, helping himself to 3 sixes and a four, to effectively quash any prospect of a West Country revival.

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