Worcestershire seamers battle to victory regardless of Taylor-made resistance

Worcestershire 406 and 316 for 8 dec (Libby 117, Waite 62, van Meekeren 5-73) beat Gloucestershire 301 (O Price 115, Pennington 3-39) and 311 (J Taylor 98, Hammond 64, Pennington 4-63, Finch 4-83) by 110 runs

Worcestershire’s seamers demonstrated admirable resolve to forge a dramatic late victory over Gloucestershire on the ultimate day of an enthralling LV=County Championship match on the Cheltenham Festival.

It took a late burst from Pennington with the second new ball to lastly finish Gloucestershire resistance, the Shrewsbury-born seamer eradicating Jack Taylor for a season’s-best 98 and Zaman Akhter within the house of three balls. He then bowled Paul van Meekeren for seven to seal victory, leaving Matt Taylor stranded on 49 not out.

Achieving back-to-back victories for the primary time since 2019, Worcestershire’s fourth win of this season noticed them financial institution 23 factors, whereas Gloucestershire picked up 5. Worcestershire have moved above promotion rivals Glamorgan into second place within the desk behind runaway leaders Durham, and so they boast a helpful 14-point benefit over the Welsh county and are 21 away from fourth-placed Sussex, who’ve a sport in hand.

For their half, Gloucestershire are nonetheless in search of their first win of the season after 11 matches and solely Yorkshire, docked 48 factors by an ECB Cricket Discipline Commission panel earlier this week, sit beneath them within the desk.

Required to attain at 4.39 runs an over in the event that they had been to interrupt their lengthy winless run, Gloucestershire by no means severely thought of the prospect of victory after dropping three wickets in the course of the morning session.

Eager to make amends following his first-innings failure, Chris Dent performed fluently in accruing 5 boundaries and shifting easily to 24, solely to then push tentatively at a supply from Leach and providing Jake Libby a simple catch at third slip with the rating on 37.

Joe Phillips and Ollie Price had staged an outstanding stand of 100 on day two, however had been unable to repeat their first-innings heroics on this event, each falling in fast succession to Adam Finch. Attempting to work a ball simply wanting a size to leg, Phillips top-edged a catch to Brett D’Oliveira at level and departed for 26 within the sixteenth over.

Having posted scores of 85 and 115 in his final two Festival innings, Ollie Price blotted his copybook, taking up Finch and directing a top-edged hook straight to Leach at deep effective leg. He had made simply 13 and Gloucestershire had been 76 for 3 and in want of a reassuring partnership.

Hammond and James Bracey did their finest to maintain Worcestershire’s seamers at bay in a cussed alliance of 53 in 19 overs both aspect of the lunch interval. Although searching of contact and weak all through, Bracey battled arduous in scratching 19 from 64 balls, earlier than pushing at a ball from Leach and falling to a effective diving catch by Gareth Roderick behind the stumps.

Wickets have fallen in clusters all through this fluctuating contest and, certain sufficient, the returning Dillon Pennington had Tom Price caught on the wicket with out scoring within the subsequent over, additional lowering the house aspect to 130 for five.

Gloucestershire’s handiest batsman in red-ball cricket this season, Hammond continued to serve up resistance, going to his eighth 50 of the summer time from 72 deliveries. It is maybe revealing that he has but to transform a single a type of half centuries into 100, and this innings proved no exception to that rule, the Cheltenham-born left-hander making an attempt to tug Finch and enjoying on, undone by a ball that saved low.

He had contributed 64, confronted 106 balls and struck half a dozen fours and a six, and with him went Gloucestershire’s finest probability of saving the sport. Fired up and within the zone, the aggressive Finch generated extra tempo to bowl Zafar Gohar for 5 in his subsequent over from the College Lawn End.

With 40 overs nonetheless to barter, Gloucestershire had been 190 for 7 and reliant upon their final recognised batsman, Jack Taylor, who not less than reached the sanctuary of the tea interval unbeaten on 40 in partnership with youthful brother Matt.

Attack proved the perfect type of defence for the elder Taylor, who drove Leach down the bottom for his ninth 4 to lift his first Championship 50 of the season from simply 54 balls.

He was simply two runs wanting his hundred when controversy flared. Taylor blocked a ball from Pennington, who then tried to shy on the stumps solely to hit the batsman. Umpire Martin Saggers intervened as tempers flared, awarding 5 penalty runs to Gloucestershire and issuing Pennington with a verbal warning.

Pennington had the final chortle nonetheless, Jack Taylor dragging the subsequent supply onto his stumps and departing for 98. Akhter fell two balls later, edging Pennington low to first slip, leaving Gloucestershire on the brink.