Gloucestershire secure their fourth County Championship win in five - beating Middlesex by seven wickets - to stay top of Group 2; Hampshire and Somerset see just nine-and-a-half overs of action at The Ageas Bowl, while all six other matches are rained off on day three
Saturday 8 May 2021 19:01, UK
David Payne celebrated career-best match figures of 11-87 as Gloucestershire secured a convincing seven-wicket win over Middlesex on day three of their LV= Insurance County Championship at Lord's.
Left-arm seamer Payne added 6-56 to his first-innings five-wicket haul as Middlesex were bowled out for 152 second time around, once play finally got underway at 1.10pm after a delay to rain.
Gloucestershire then knocked off the 90 runs required in the final session for the loss of three wickets to cement their place as Group Two leaders.
Middlesex resumed the day on 26-3 in their second innings and, once the rain stopped, it didn't take long for the home side's brittle batting line-up to be exposed once more.
Ryan Higgins (2-54) had nightwatchman Ethan Bamber caught behind for a 26-ball duck in the fifth over of the day, before Payne then took centre stage once more to bowl the in-form Robbie White (1).
Nick Gubbins tried to launch a counter offensive, as he and John Simpson brought up a fifty partnership together for the sixth wicket to ensure that Gloucestershire would be at least made to bat again.
Gubbins reached 50 from 97 balls, but inevitably Payne snuffed out the revival, trapping him lbw, although the Middlesex opener appeared to have been a tad unfortunate and struck outside the line.
Simpson went on to make 40, but Payne removed both him and James Harris in the space of four balls as Middlesex collapsed once more.
In reply, the tireless Bamber (2-29) bowled the visiting captain Chris Dent for 25 and had England hopeful James Bracey (13) caught at mid-on.
Kraigg Brathwaite (21) also departed on the cusp of victory, but former Middlesex man Tom Lace hit a flurry of boundaries in his unbeaten 31 to secure Gloucestershire's fourth win in five.
Also in Group 2, rain and bad light frustrated Somerset's push for victory over Hampshire as just nine-and-a-half overs were bowled before play was abandoned late on Saturday at The Ageas Bowl.
Hampshire closed the day on 110-4 in their second innings - still trailing Somerset by 147 runs - with opener Joe Weatherley unbeaten on 34 and skipper James Vince 5 not out.
Play finally got underway at 5.30pm with a minimum of 16 overs to be bowled. Weatherley and Sam Northeast came out to bat - Hampshire 92-3 - and the pair did well to survive some testing bowling from Craig Overton and Lewis Gregory as Somerset pushed hard for early wickets.
It was the excellent Overton who finally made the breakthrough, with his fourth wicket of the innings, as Northeast mistimed a push towards midwicket and George Bartlett took a stunning one-handed catch at short-leg.
The visitors' joy was short-lived, though, as play was swiftly soon after abandoned by umpires Graham Lloyd and Alex Wharf due to bad light.
Heavy rain ensure the was no action on day three in the six further County Championship games - Notts vs Essex, Warwickshire vs Worcestershire, Leicestershire vs Surrey, Yorkshire vs Kent, Lancashire vs Glamorgan and Northants vs Sussex.
