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Singh Dale hits extraordinary consolation fifty in defeat to Essex

28 July 2024

Shane Snater played an incisive role as Essex defeated Gloucestershire by 63 runs in a one-sided Metro Bank One Day Cup contest at the Seat Unique Stadium in Bristol.

Called into the side after missing the competition opener against Warwickshire four days earlier, the 28-year-old seamer took three wickets in 13 deliveries in a devastating new-ball burst that fundamentally undermined Gloucestershire's top order.

Chasing a victory target of 263, the home side lost wickets with indecent haste thereafter, five top or middle-order batsmen falling in single figures as last season's beaten semi-finalists were dismissed for 199 in 36.2 overs, Snater claiming 3-39 and Jamal Richards 2-33.

Ajeet Singh Dale struck a defiant career-best 25-ball half century and dominated a stand of 85 for the last wicket with Tom Smith, but tail-end resistance arrived too late to save Gloucestershire.

Put into bat, Essex had earlier posted 262-8, thanks in the main to half centuries from Luc Benkenstein and Robin Das, who staged a restorative partnership of 88 in 17 overs to rescue the visitors from 86-4. Das contributed 52 from 71 deliveries and Benkenstein raised a career-best 67 from 62 balls with 7 fours and 2 sixes. Gloucestershire seamer Dom Goodman returned impressive figures of 4-43, his best in List-A cricket, while Singh Dale generated express pace to claim 2-50 from nine overs and Tom Smith took 2-51 with his slow left arm.

Beaten in their opening two fixtures, Gloucestershire face back-to-back away games against Surrey on Tuesday and Yorkshire on Thursday and will very likely need to win both if they are to remain in contention for a place in the knockout stages. Buoyed by their first win in the 50-over competition, Essex will attempt to strengthen their position when they embark upon successive home matches against Leicestershire and Glamorgan on Wednesday and Sunday respectively.

A heavy defeat in front of their home crowd appeared an unlikely scenario when Gloucestershire won the toss and Singh Dale removed Nick Browne in the first over. But Feroze Khushi and Tom Westley weathered the storm and mustered eight fours and a six between them in a second wicket partnership of 59 in 61 balls, their burgeoning alliance only foundering when Khushi pulled a short delivery from Singh Dale to mid-wicket and departed for a 29-ball 31. Goodman struck with his first delivery to bowl Westley for 23 and, when Charlie Allison edged behind off Smith, the visitors were 86-4, their innings in the balance.

Eschewing risk to begin with, Das and Benkenstein combined clever placement and hard running to rebuild the innings, the fifth wicket partnership realising 50 via 52 balls. Initially the more aggressive of the two, Das went to his half century from 64 balls as the innings gained crucial momentum during the middle overs. Smith eventually broke the partnership, Das hitting him high to long on where Cameron Bancroft parried the ball a split second before stepping over the rope to enable Ollie Price to complete a remarkable catch. 

Although Benkenstein raised his 50 in style, slog-sweeping Smith for six, he was unable to convert a substantial score into a truly meaningful one, lofting Goodman to deep cover and becoming part of a mini-collapse that saw Essex slip from 174-4 to 211-7 in six overs. Goodman accounted for Noah Thain and Shane Snater on his way to career-best figures, after which Essex were indebted to Ben Allison and Richards, who staged a useful unbroken stand of 23 for the ninth wicket.

Any suggestion that Essex might have fallen short with the bat was quickly dispelled as Snater took a wrecking ball to the top order, pinning Miles Hammond lbw, bowling Price and then having James Bracey caught behind to reduce Gloucestershire to 28-3 in seven overs.

The only one among the top-order batsmen to reach double figures, Bancroft then nicked a catch behind off Ben Allison as the hosts subsided to 33-4, summoning memories of the dramatic collapse that served to hand victory to Glamorgan in their previous outing. That soon became 43-5, Jack Taylor chopping on as Richards claimed a wicket with his third ball from the Bristol Pavilion end.

Charged with the task of rebuilding, Graeme van Buuren and Ben Charlesworth added 30 runs in 7.4 overs before Gloucestershire suffered a further body blow. On this occasion, it was self-inflicted, van Buuren pushing a ball from Thain to mid-on and setting off in pursuit of a single, only to be run out by Das for 21. When Charlesworth holed out to deep square leg later in the same over, Gloucestershire were 76-7 and heading for a second defeat in four days.

Singh Dale and Smith at least restored a vestige of pride, scoring 63 and 29 not out respectively in a stand of 85 in eight overs, a Gloucestershire record for the last wicket in List-A matches, eclipsing the previous mark set by David Graveney and John Mortimore in a contest against Lancashire at Tewksbury in 1973.

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