Smith Takes Four As Season Ends On A High
26 September 2014
Tom Smith claimed four wickets as Gloucestershire finished their season in style with a thumping 244-run LV=County Championship victory over Kent at Canterbury.
Resuming their second innings on an overnight 95-4, the home side were bowled out for 203 by early afternoon as skipper Alex Gidman celebrated the final match of his long Gloucestershire career with a win.
Left-arm spinner Smith finished with 4-35 from 10.1 overs. There were three wickets for Liam Norwell, while Craig Miles ended with 2-27 from 11 overs as only Sam Northeast (62) and Darren Stevens (47) offered much resistance.
Gloucestershire took 19 points from their fourth Championship win of the season to Kent's three.
Will Tavare, whose second innings century was key in setting up the victory, told this website: "The great things about our last two away games in the Championship is that we have bowled the opposition out twice without our leading wicket-taker in Will Gidman.
"The other bowlers have stepped up to the plate and, with Will leaving, that augurs really well for next season."
Of his own achievement in passing 1,000 first class runs for the season in the Kent game, Will added: "It's not something I thought about at the start of the season. My main aim was simply to establish myself in the side.
"Having entered county cricket at a relatively late age, I guess it means even more to me. I have enjoyed every moment of playing with a great set of lads and I'm sure we can look forward to the future with optimism."
Alex Gidman, who marked his final appearance by scoring 140 in Gloucestershire's second innings, said: "The team always comes first with me, rather than any personal achievements, and I'm just delighted I helped put us in a winning position."
The result means Gloucestershire leapfrog Glamorgan to finish seventh in the Second Division with 163 points.
For more details on the final day at Canterbury click on Cricket and then Match Reports.
