dailynewsnblog
Worcestershire 388 (Brookes 66, Waite 63, Hose 52, D’Oliveira 52, van Buuren 4-96) and 87 for 5 beat Gloucestershire 289 (Hammond 139*, Bancroft 52, Swanepoel 5-65) and 185 (Bancroft 56, Singh 5-74, Waite 3-14) by wickets
Singh kickstarted the day by claiming the wicket of Tommy Boorman with a delivery which straightened and kept low before rapping the young batter on his front pad. And it was in contentious circumstances that Singh, in his next over, dismissed Miles Hammond for a duck.
What was appealed for as a caught and bowled was, after the umpires conferred, given – and that was much to the bemusement of Hammond who took his time to trudge off.
By this stage, Gloucestershire were in real trouble and still behind in the game at 97 for 5, but Worcestershire administered further blows to extend the collapse.
Jack Taylor, injured in the first innings, limped to the crease but he was clean bowled by Singh with a beauty which pitched on middle before beating the bat and clipping the top of off stump. Singh had a fourth before lunch with another caught and bowled, when Kristian Clarke popped a leading edge back up in the air.
Van Buuren and Daaryoush Ahmed repelled Worcestershire’s attack for the period immediately after lunch and shared in a stand worth 50 runs for the eighth wicket, before Waite sent the former’s off stump flying. When Ahmed too perished, becoming Singh’s fifth victim after edging to the razor-sharp Ethan Brookes at first slip, the end of Gloucestershire’s modest innings was in sight.
Determined tailenders Will Williams and Luke Charlesworth did drag matters out, but the new ball did the trick when Beyers Swanepoel – with the first delivery of his spell – trapped Williams with a full ball which proved too good.
That left Worcestershire with what appeared a relatively straightforward task of chasing down 87 for victory, but van Buuren instantly got turn and removed Dan Lategan in the very first over of the pursuit to set a few pulses racing.
Worcestershire promoted Swanepoel (35 from 38 balls) up to No. 3 following the early dismissal and he applied a chunky dent in the target. The wily van Buuren was relentless from one end, however; he snared Jake Libby and then removed Swanepoel himself, caught by Boorman at short leg to make it 52 for 3.
When Adam Hose pushed Clarke to Bancroft – the Australian contributed five catches in the match – Worcestershire were still 30 runs from emerging triumphant and were seemingly making a meal of securing their humble target.
Captain Brett D’Oliveira was the next to depart when he nicked into Bracey’s gloves, but Brookes and the steady Gareth Roderick (24 not out from 54 balls) guided Worcestershire through the remainder of what proved to be an awkward chase.
