Yorkshire v Gloucestershire One Day Cup Augut 2nd at York

Neil Whitaker reports

GLOUCESTERSHIRE beat the Yorkshire  Vikings by 36 runs  with 17 balls remaining in their Metro bank match at York.


Ollie Price fell two runs short off his second List A  century but top scored with 98 as Gloucestershire made 251 for nine in their 50 overs after they elected to bat.

At one stage they looked to be on course for their second 300  of this season’s competition but they  lost four wickets for  19 runs in five overs just as they looked  to kick on.

Price was busy from the moment he came in and  drove George  Hill to the long on boundary. He  put in a long stride to Dan Moriarty and swept him to square leg boundary.  He turned Dom  Bess off his legs for a single to bring up his first 50, which came from 65 balls with five fours,  in this year’s competition.

 Ben Cliff was driving for two fours by Price in four balls: the first to the long-off boundary and the second over long-on.  Price  pulled a short ball from Matt Revis to the fine leg boundary to take him into 90’s

With nine balls left in the visitors it looked certain that Price would get the two runs for his century but he became Hill’s first  victim of the innings when he took a couple of paces down the pitch to Hill had a big swing and the ball crashed into his stumps.

He said: “We felt at the start of the game that it wasn’t the easiest of pitches and it was quite a challenge to face  the seamers.  We thought that their seamers would  be hard to get away and I thought we did well to get through the opening period only one down.

At the 30  over mark I thought that  300 would be par but the last 20 didn’t go as planned.”

The Gloucestershire openers   Miles Hammond and Cameron Bancroft made a cautious start as they looked to build a platform to get 300,  eventually runs started to come easily as the first powerplay ended but their partnership was broken with the first ball of the second powerplay when Ben Coad squared Bancroft up took his edge and left the rest to stumper Harry Duke.

Hammond, who made 54, drive  att  Revis to the long-on boundary to bring up  his second 50 in this year’s competition; this one  came from 84 balls with seven fours.  He was gifted a four when he drove Revis through mid-on when Coad dove over the ball. The Vikings got rid off Hammond when he tried to reverse sweep Moriarty and was bowled.

James Bracey looked to get the scoreboard moving and he drove Cliff to the long-off boundary. In Cliff’s next over  Bracey drove him  over the long-on boundary  But Bracey was on his way back to the hutch when he was beaten by Cliff as  Bracey tried to turn him to mid-wicket.

His wicket sparked a  collapse, four balls later  Cliff got his second wicket when Luke Charlesworth edged a drive to Duke. Captain Jack  Taylor moved across his stumps to Coad to steer him through point but got an inside edge and played on for a duck.

Graeme Van Burren backed away from Moriarty and tried to cut him but the ball was too close to him and he played on.

Big hitting from Tom Smith and  Matt Taylor got the Gloucestershire innings back on track.  Smith clipped Cliff to the mid-wicket boundary.  Then he  hit Cliff for a couple of   streaky fours, the first through point and the second down to fine leg.  Smith turned his attention to Hill and lofted him for a one bounce four.  He clipped  Revis  off his toes but i stead of hitting a six he found Wharton on the mid-wicket boundary.

MattTaylor did hit a six when he pulled Revis over square leg but he was the last out when he was  yorked by Hill to the last  ball of the innings.

The Vikings chase got off to a poor start when both openers  Finlay Bean and Will  Luxton were back in the hutch inside seven overs.   Bean shaped to leave one from Matt Taylor that came in and grazed his before going on to his stumps.  His partner Luxton was beaten for pace by Anneet Singh Dale who broke Luxton’s middle stump.

On 21 Janes Wharton pulled Price to Hammond at mid-on but the  ball burst through his hands. In his next over he drove Price over long-on for a six. A shot he repeated with the same outcome to Van Burren.

Shan Masood drove Price for a single to mid-off to bring up his 50 from 52 balls with five fours.  He effortlessly drilled Price for a six over mid-wicket.  Without looking in any trouble he added 113 in 20 overs with Wharton until he edged a a big drive off Matt Taylor. Shan Masood couldn’t believe it when he saw umpire Jack Shantry’s finger raised. 

Matt Taylor got his third wicket when bowled Hill in his  next over when the left arm seamer bowling around the wicket speared one in and kissed the leg stump.  Hill couldn’t understand what stumper   Bracey  was appealing for until umpire Shantry told him.

Duke struggled to get the ball away in 14 stay at the crease and finally lost patience when he pulled Dom Goodman to Bancroft at short mid-wicket.

Wharton, who top score fir the Vikings with 58,  edged Anjeet Singh Dale inches wide off stumper Bracey. He managed to club Goodman  to the long-on boundary to bring up his 50 from 78 balls with three fours and two sixes.  He slog/swept Smith over mid-wicket. Smith got his first wicket of the innings with his next ball when Wharton tried to drive Smith  it got an outside edge and the ball looped to   Van Burren at backward point. As he headed back to the hutch so did the hopes of a  Vikings victory.

Wharton said: “I feel good but I am not scoring hundreds and winning matches for Yorkshire.  The ball I got out to got a bit big on me and I tried knocking it for one when I should have left it.

We know that we are capable of winning our remaining matches, we just have to remain positive.  We try to play positive cricket so we go to Scarborough for our next two matches full of confidence.

We were happy at the halfway stage to keep them to the total they got.  We knew it was going to be tricky to chase the runs down.  We felt that they left a few runs out there.  I thought that Price played really well.”

Jack Taylor brought Ajeet Singh Dale back into the attack to get another and he did.   Bess tried to turn  his fifth ball to leg,  missed the ball and was given out by umpigre Shantry.

Coad drove Van Burren on the onside and set off for a single but was sent back by Revis and Coad couldn’t  beat Van Burren’s clever peice of fielding  his own bowling.

Revis drove Good an over extra cover for a much welcomed boundary and he drove the next straight into the sight screen for a six.  Revis tried to finish the over witch another six he got the height but not the distance and Jack Taylor at mid-of.

Price added: “We hoped that after the second drinks  interval that we would get wickets and Jack Taylor brought the bowlers back to take the wickets and they did.

We lost our first two games. We are now full of confidence and we are a good 50 over side.

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