Northamptonshire against Gloucestershire in the Rothesay County Championship Division Two at the County Ground in Northampton. Sadly, Mother Nature had different plans and washed the final match out, removing all chance of a resulting winner. The final match was a highly competitive affair, with Northamptonshire laying down the gauntlet by posting a daunting target of exactly 350 runs for Gloucestershire to chase down.
Northamptonshire, for their part, declared their second innings at 259 for 6. They accrued this aggregate primarily from the stellar outings of James Sales and Saif Zaib. Sales was again commanding, contributing a crucial 70 runs, while Zaib chipped in with 58, adding to their overnight 248-run lead. The declaration created an ambitious target for Gloucestershire. They had set a target of 379 runs for 8 declared in their first innings.
The home team’s innings moved with alarming speed. Lewis McManus and George Bartlett batted intelligently, Lewis putting on a further 44 runs onto the aggregate and soon taking Northamptonshire’s lead up to 349 runs before the eventual declaration came. This intent to attack in their batting robbed Gloucestershire of any hope of heading into the match’s closing stages in the driving seat.
In response, Gloucestershire faced a daunting task. They were 214 for 6 when rain stopped play, needing another 136 runs from at least 24.2 overs. Miles Hammond was the runaway top-scorer for Gloucestershire with a mighty 80 runs. Having been critical in first-innings runs, Cameron Bancroft was again key, posting his second half-century of the match, impacting the chase in a big way.
Coaches Darren Lehmann of Northamptonshire and Mark Alleyne of Gloucestershire expressed their thoughts on the match’s progression and the eventual draw. Lehmann reflected on the intensity of the match, stating,
“I thought it was a good declaration by Gloucestershire to open up the game a little bit. We played beautifully this morning to get the runs quick enough to give us enough time to get the overs in and it would have been a great finish to this game.”
Alleyne joined her counterpart in echoing the competitiveness of the match when he said,
“I think chasing 350 was a more than fair declaration; both sides had a good opportunity to win the game.”
Both teams took away important points from the match. Both teams received five points for the tied result. This was an encouraging sign, though it came with the frustration of not completing the game.
Northamptonshire were unplayable with the bat in the first innings, scoring 469 and laying down a marker of their dominance from deeply rooted socio-political conditions. Gloucestershire managed to hit 379 all out declared in their innings. This created a thrilling battle that was sure to produce an amazing championship Sunday, but as luck would have it, mother nature had different plans.
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