Man of the match Tom Hartley produced another career-best performance to propel Lancashire to a hard-earned nine-wicket victory over Gloucestershire at Cheltenham and keep alive their hopes of winning promotion back to Division One of the County Championship.
Having previously staged his highest score of 130 and taken 6-116 to put his team in control, the England slow left armer claimed 5-99 on the final day of an entertaining match at the famous old College Ground as the red rose county made it two wins out of two in the red-ball format under the new leadership team of interim head coach Steve Croft and captain James Anderson.
Made to follow on, Gloucestershire were dismissed for 285 in 98 overs in their second innings, slow left armer Hartley finishing with match figures of 11-215 after Ben Charlesworth and Joe Phillips had scored 71 and 56 respectively for the home side. Chris Green weighed in with 2-62 as spin accounted for seven wickets on a surface offering some assistance.
Set 110 to win in 26 overs, Lancashire chased down their target for the loss of Luke Wells with five overs to spare, courtesy of an authoritative unbroken second wicket partnership of 103 between Keaton Jennings and Josh Bohannon. Confronted by four spinners as Gloucestershire dispensed with seam, Jennings top-scored with a brisk 57 not out from 67 balls, while the equally forthright Bohannon faced 50 deliveries in raising an undefeated 45 as the visitors eased to victory in the final hour.
Lancashire took 22 points to move into fourth place in Division Two, in the process, leapfrogging Gloucestershire, who settled for five points after sustaining their third defeat of the season.
Gloucestershire resumed their second innings on 98 without loss, still 78 in arrears and potentially vulnerable to a repeat of the collapse that undermined their first innings. It was incumbent upon openers Cameron Bancroft and Charlesworth to build upon their good start on a pitch that was offering some assistance to spin, but which was not expected to break up.
If Gloucestershire’s minimum requirement was to bat two sessions, Lancashire were reading from an altogether different script, Anderson claiming the prized scalp of Bancroft in the opening over, the Australian edging to mid-wicket without adding to his overnight score of 35.
Having seen off Anderson, Charlesworth was no doubt disappointed to then succumb to George Balderson in his first over from the Chapel Lawn End. Attempting a back-foot flick, Gloucestershire’s first-innings centurion found Marcus Harris at short mid-wicket and departed for 71 with the score 129-2. Guilty of poor shot selection, Ollie Price then pursued a wide delivery from Hartley that bounced off a length and edged to Luke Wells at slip, at which point Gloucestershire were 134-3, still 42 in arrears, having lost three wickets in the first hour.
They came close to losing another in the next over, Miles Hammond standing his ground and being afforded the benefit of the doubt when Jennings claimed a catch at short square leg off the bowling of Hartley. The reprieve proved temporary, Green pinning Hammond lbw for 22 in the final over before lunch, which was taken with the score 168-4. Representing Gloucestershire’s best chance of saving the game, Phillips remained unbeaten on 35.
He was joined by James Bracey and these two wiped out the remaining arrears early on in the afternoon session, Phillips going to a hard-earned 50 from 91 balls with his eighth four. But Lancashire continued to take wickets, Jack Blatherwick angling a short delivery into the body of Bracey, who was unable to get his bat out of the way and edged behind. His departure was a blow for Gloucestershire, who were in effect 21-5 with 57 overs left in the day.
An even bigger blow befell the home side when Phillips’ vigil came to an end soon afterwards, the Cornishman held by the safe hands of Jennings at short leg off the bowling of the ubiquitous Hartley. Phillips had faced 110 balls, accrued eight fours and defied the red rose bowlers for three hours. Hartley then extracted additional spin to remove van Buuren, who stretched forward and was caught behind for eight to leave the home side between a rock and a hard place at 210-7.
Todd Murphy led a Gloucestershire counter-attack, going for his shots, pushing the field back and sharing in a useful stand of 41 in eight overs with Zaman Akhter, who scored a breezy 20 before offering a return catch to Green as the home side slipped to 251-8. Ajeet Singh Dale survived a searching examination at the hands of Anderson and the new ball, he and Murphy digging in to reach tea on 268-8. Gloucestershire had a slender lead of 92 with a minimum 35 overs remaining.
Lancashire’s go-to man, Hartley returned to bowl Murphy for a 56-ball 33 and complete the first 10-wicket match haul of his career as an enthralling contest entered its final session. He then accounted for last man Marchant de Lange, held at short square leg as Gloucestershire’s resistance with the bat finally came to an end in the early-evening sunshine.
