REPORT: Sussex old boys set up One Day Cup victory
14 May 2017
Eight wickets from the former Sussex pair of Chris Liddle and Tom Smith on a bright and breezy day at The Saffrons paved the way for Gloucestershire to beat Sussex by 6 wickets in the South group of the Royal London One-Day Cup at Eastbourne.
Liddle took five wickets for the second time in the competition, finishing with 5-52, while the Eastbourne born Smith took 3-33 as Sussex were dismissed for 240 in the final over.
Gloucestershire lost Phil Mustard early on but three half centuries by Michael Klinger, George Hankins - his first in List A cricket - and Jack Taylor saw Gloucestershire reach their target with six wickets in hand and eight balls to spare.
Gloucestershire made two changes to the team beaten by Somerset on Friday, with Craig Miles replacing Liam Norwell,, and Graeme van Buuren coming in for Chris Dent. His spell from the Larkins Field end, although wicketless, helped contain Sussex after a brisk start.
On a ground where Gloucestershire hadn't played since 1975, and where Sussex hadn't staged a first team game since 2000, Michael Klinger unsurprisingly decided to field first when he won the toss.
Early play suggested there wasn't much bounce in the pitch, so Wright and Nash were able to profit from anything not pitched on a good length and Klinger had already turned to Liddle by the seventh over when Chris Nash clipped a ball off his legs straight to Miles at long leg for 25.
Sussex found the boundary 11 times in the opening powerplay but their progress was checked by two wickets in nine deliveries, Harry Finch (8) flicking Smith straight to Klinger at short mid wicket, and left hander van Zyl being adjudged lbw to Howell from around the wicket for a duck.
At 67-3, Sussex's position was not dissimilar to other teams who had batted first in earlier games, and again there was a rally, this time built by captain Luke Wright and Laurie Evans, who was signed from Warwickshire during the winter.
They had to be patient though, as Smith, Howell, and van Buuren all gave little away, the two Gloucestershire spinners getting genuine help from a pitch where the gentle slope also favoured them.
The boundaries dried up until Evans pulled Jack Taylor onto the adjacent football ground for six, and a second blow in the same direction bounced off the partition fence.
Their century partnership had taken 22 overs when Liddle, in his second spell, broke the stand with a carbon copy dismissal to that of Nash earlier in the day, Miles safely taking a well judged catch just inside the rope to remove Evans for 48.
Much then depended on Wright, and as long as he was there, Sussex would have still been aiming for a total close to 300. Critically however, having made 84 from 108 balls, he chased a wide one from Liddle and the edge to Phil Mustard left the lower order to fashion what they could from the last 11 overs.
Archer struck two straight sixes before he was last out for 30, but in between Liddle and Smith shared four wickets, Liddle taking his tally to 18 in the Royal London Cup and Smith finished with his best figures of the season, taking 3-33. 241 looked a teasing total, and for a long while, that's how it proved.
Archer in particular bowled tightly at the start of the Gloucestershire reply, almost forcing Mustard to play the ball onto his stumps before the Gloucestershire 'keeper he was bowled off an inside edge in the 7th over.
With Chris Dent not in the side, George Hankins was promoted to number three and took his time to acclimatise, taking 29 deliveries before he found the boundary. However with the unflustered Klinger at the other end, Gloucestershire ticked along methodically even though Sussex's spinners, Danny Briggs and Will Beer, bowled economically so that the fifty partnership took 90 balls.
Two sixes by Klinger, one onto the roof off the corporate marquee, reduced the target to 126 from the last 20 overs but having reached his own fifty, a miscued drive off Beer went straight to Jerome Taylor. Klinger departed for 53, and only 22 runs had been added when Hankins was also undone by a Beer delivery which kept low and trapped lbw for a carefully constructed 67.
Jack Taylor then joined Ian Cockbain with the game still in the balance. At no stage had there been a really expensive over in the match, and that remained the case until both cleared the rope in the 42nd over bowled by Jerome Taylor. It cost 19 runs and proved the tipping point.
Hitting the ball hard even if his timing wasn't always perfect, Jack Taylor completed a 27 ball fifty which included six fours and three sixes. He was last out for 64 when the scores were level but his job was done. Cockbain's unbeaten 45 was just what was required, and their stand of 97 in 11 overs sealed a third win in the group and dented Sussex's hopes of progression into the knockout stages.
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