Flower, Grayson down Gladiators

Andy Flower and Paul Grayson guided Essex to a comfortable D/L win over Gloucestershire in a must win game for both sides for dramatically different reasons, as it drags Essex out of the relegation zone, whilst all but killing off Gloucestershire's title challenge.

Gloucestershire batted first on winning the toss, but as with most of the country today, rain was about and showers mid-innings reduced the match to one of 33 overs a side.

It was a steady accumulation rather than an all out attack, and although the rain prompted captain Chris Taylor and wicket-keeper Stephen Adshead to up the scoring rate, the slow scoring second wicket pairing of Phil Weston (38 from 69) and Mike Hussey (25 from 48) meant that the score was only 150-6 when the innings ended, as all the bowlers bar Andre Adams were impressively tight.

Duckworth Lewis was consulted, and Essex were left to chase 164 to win. The way Jon Lewis and James Averis started, it didn't look like they would get near, being reduced to 29-3 within the first 8 overs. At this point, Paul Grayson and Andy Flower came together, and between them set about the change bowlers with great success, adding 113 runs in less than an hour and a half. Both men scored 58, but the majority of these came in nudges and pushes, rather than boundaries, as Grayson only hit 1 four in his whole innings. James Middlebrook came in when Averis finally got Flower, and the side eased to a critical victory with a full over to spare.

GLOUCESTERSHIRE 150-6
Taylor 41*, Weston 38, Napier 2-22
ESSEX 164-4
Grayson 58*, Flower 58, Averis 3-28

Posted by Marc