Semi final secured by spirited run chase
26 August 2015
Gloucestershire are through to their first List A semi final since 2009 after a thrilling four wicket win over Hampshire at the Bristol County Ground.
Set 218 to win, Michael Klinger made a well constructed 87 before an explosive cameo from Jack Taylor took Gloucestershire to within touching distance of victory. Geraint Jones struck the winning runs with a six off the last ball of the penultimate over.
Listen to Geraint Jones' thoughts on the win here :
Click here to hear what Michael Klinger made of today's victory :
Rain over the previous two days meant the ground staff had to work all morning to get the ground into a playable state, with umpires Rob Bailey and Jeff Evans finally deciding on a 1.45 start with a match reduced to 34 overs per side.
Gloucestershire made two changes from the Championship match against Surrey, with Michael Klinger returning in place of Will Tavare, and Geraint Jones replacing Kieran Noema-Barnett. Both were to play pivotal roles in the day.
The Hampshire total of 217-7 was built on initially shaky foundations, with wickets falling in each of the first two overs. Michael Carberry was caught at slip by Dent off Fuller without scoring, and then Adam Wheater tried to cut Payne over point but got under the shot and was caught by Jones at third man.
Thereafter experienced left hander Jimmy Adams held things together. His rotation of the strike was an example of how boundaries are not essential in the early part of an innings, and with Hampshire skipper James Vince he added 68 before Vince was well caught by a diving Hamish Marshall at long on for 31.
The first six, struck by Adams, came in the fifteenth over and at half distance Hampshire's total was only a modest 73-3. The opener, however, seemed intent on batting through the innings as his partners struggled to time the ball consistently.
Liam Dawson's brief stay at the crease was ended by a slower ball from Benny Howell which he clipped straight to Tom Smith at deep backward square leg, and Sean Ervine gave a gentle return catch to James Fuller. All appeared to depend on Adams, who reached his half century off 64 balls with five fours and got to 72 before giving a chance, a difficult one low to the left of Gareth Roderick off Fuller.
By that stage Adams had found an ideal partner in Will Smith who attacked in aggressive style, the pair adding 71 in only 5.3 overs with David Payne taking the brunt of the punishment. Three chances went down, and in the end the stand was broken by a run out, Adams taking on James Fuller's arm and coming second having made 97 off 99 balls. When Smith was caught by Marshall off the final delivery of the Hampshire innings, he had contributed a quick fire fifty from only 25 deliveries with seven fours and a six.
The common consent during the break was that if Gloucestershire were to win, Michael Klinger would have a big role to play. He was dropped before he'd scored by Jimmy Adams, and it was prove an expensive error.
For three quarters of the Gloucestershire run chase, Klinger dominated the scoreboard to such an extent that extras were the next highest score. The skiddy Fidel Edwards removed Chris Dent for four, and when Hampshire skipper James Vince brought on Liam Dawson for the first time, Gareth Roderick tried to use his feet to attack the spinner and was bowled for 12. The strike was not being rotated as consistently as during the Hampshire innings, and Gareth Berg's first four overs cost only ten runs.
Klinger would have hoped for some meaningful support from Marshall and Howell, but both made only nine and when Geraint Jones walked out at number six Klinger had made 54 out of a score of 104-4, and fewer than 14 overs remained.
Together their experience then proved of huge value. In fluctuating light, both tried to attack the shorter boundaries both on the leg side and towards the apartments. Klinger dispatched Berg for a straight six and Jones passed extras as the second highest contributor by working Liam Dawson over extra cover, but Gloucestershire still needed an over or two where they scored heavily.
The previously economical Berg did concede three boundaries in one over, but with rain falling Klinger's beautifully paced innings was halted by Arafat, who had the Australian caught at mid wicket for 87, made off 81 balls with ten fours and a six.
Clearly frustrated with himself, Klinger's emotion turned full circle within half an hour as the incoming Jack Taylor played the sort of innings which has been his trademark this season.
With 51 runs needed from the last five overs, Taylor took three fours off an over from Fidel Edwards - one standing outside off stump - and then smashed two sixes and a four off successive balls in the next, bowed by Arafat. He'd made 34 from only 17 balls when Arafat picked up his third wicket, but it was then 11 to win off 11 balls, and Geraint Jones finished matters in the grand manner, hitting Arafat for six to secure a four wicket win with one over to spare.
