Lucas destroys Gloucestershire

Left-armer bags 12 wickets as Northants triumph with day to spare

Last updated: 22nd July 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Lucas destroys Gloucestershire

Lucas: match figures of 12-73

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LV County Championship - Division Two
Cheltenham
Gloucestershire 147 (C G Taylor 51, D S Lucas 5-49) & 142 (D S Lucas 7-24) v Northamptonshire 232 (N Boje 87 no, S P Kirby 4-75) & 58-1
Northamptonshire (18pts) beat Gloucestershire (3pts) by 9 wkts

Northamptonshire knocked off a victory target of 58 to secure a nine-wicket win over Gloucestershire with a day to spare at the Cheltenham festival.

David Lucas set up the victory with a career-best haul of 7-24 as Gloucestershire were bowled out for 142 in their second innings.

The left-arm paceman also took five wickets on the first day to finish with match figures of 12-73.

After Northants had taken their first innings total from 175-6 to 232 all out, Nicky Boje finishing unbeaten on 87, Gloucestershire found Lucas virtually unplayable.

He had dismissed Gloucestershire's top five in the first innings and repeated the feat in his first seven overs second time around.

Will Porterfield was caught in the slips, Kadeer Ali bowled and Hamish Marshall, Alex Gidman and Chris Taylor all trapped lbw.

A couple of heavy showers interrupted Northants' progress after Gloucestershire had slumped to 34-6, Andrew Hall chipping in with the wicket of Steve Snell, who bagged a pair.

James Franklin hit 26 before tamely lifting David Wigley to short cover and Richard Dawson took his side to three figures with eight fours in a fighting 44 before being bowled by a full length ball from Johan van der Wath.

Lucas returned to clean up Steve Kirby and Anthony Ireland, leaving Jon Lewis 29 not out in another sorry Gloucestershire batting display.

Faced with such a small victory target, Stephen Peters and Howgego played positively and Gloucestershire were soon forced to introduce off-spinners Dawson and Taylor to claw back a slow over-rate.

Taylor had Peters caught behind down the leg side but Rob White (5no) joined Howgego (28no) to see the visitors home.

Day two

Northamptonshire were unable to resume on the second day of their LV County Championship Division Two game against Gloucestershire at Cheltenham due to heavy rain.

Northamptonshire had been due to start the day on 175 for six after Gloucestershire were bowled out for 147.

Yet poor weather conditions the previous evening persisted throughout the morning and umpires David Millns and Tim Robinson decided to abandon play just after midday.

Day one

Northamptonshire finished a frenetic opening day with a 28-run lead over Gloucestershire at Cheltenham.

A total of 16 wickets fell after visiting captain Nicky Boje won the toss and opted to bowl first in cool, overcast conditions.

His decision was fully justified as left-arm paceman David Lucas claimed season's best figures of 5-49 to help dismiss Gloucestershire for 147 in 42.4 overs.

Lucas accounted for all of the top five, including opening batsman Kadeer Ali, who was forced to retire hurt after being hit on the head by a Johan van der Wath bouncer and later returned to be eighth out for a 19-ball duck.

Chris Taylor's 51 was the only note of defiance on the card, he added 58 for the sixth wicket with Richard Dawson (21) to briefly revive the innings.

But Lucas had Taylor caught behind immediately after he had reached his half-century and the tail soon folded to Van der Wath (3-47).

Northamptonshire slumped to 8-3 in reply as James Franklin (2-39) and Steve Kirby struck early blows.

Alex Wakely (30) and Riki Wessels (23) steadied the innings with a 31-run alliance for the fourth wicket and, although Jon Lewis (2-37) removed both, Boje (57no) continued the recovery alongside Andrew Hall.

The South African pair added 71 for the sixth wicket before Kirby (2-52) dismissed Hall (41) just prior to the close, which came with Northants on 175-6.

Pitch inspector John Jameson deemed that swing, rather than any problems with the pitch, was mainly responsible for the clatter of wickets.

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