Gloucestershire v Leicestershire
LV=County Championship Division Two
Day Four. At Bristol.
By Richard Latham
Gloucestershire wrapped up their third successive LV=County Championship win just half an hour into the final day against Leicestershire at Bristol.
The home side claimed a nine-wicket victory and 23 points when Chris Dent collected a boundary to fine leg off the occasional medium pace of Paul Nixon.
Gloucestershire had been left with only 12 runs to win after bowling out the visitors for 285, finally parting the last wicket pair of Jaques Du Toit and Matthew Hoggard with the 12th ball of the morning.
Hoggard fended at short ball from Anthony Ireland and wicketkeeper Jonathan Batty took a good low catch diving to his right. Leicestershire had added only three to their overnight total.
Facing their small target, Gloucestershire lost Will Porterfield, lbw on the back foot to give 39-year-old Nixon his maiden first class wicket in his 22nd season as a player, but reached their target in the fifth over.
Hoggard had given the new ball to the unlikely partnership of Nixon and Du Toit, who also bowls medium pace.
After the former’s unexpected strike, which sent his colleagues in rapturous celebrations, Matt Boyce replaced Du Toit for the final completed over.
Ireland had finished with 4-85 in the Leicestershire innings and excellent match figures of 7-106. It was a fine effort by the Zimbabwean, called into the side to replace the rested Steve Kirby.
There were two wickets each for James Franklin and Jon Lewis, while Gemaal Hussain’s single victim took his tally for the season to 30 in Championship cricket.
Du Toit was left unbeaten on 33, having defied the home side for 140 balls and batted for just under three hours.
Despite the early finish, it was Gloucestershire’s longest Championship game of the season. Three of the previous four had ended in three days, while their victory over Middlesex at Lord’s was completed 24 minutes into the final day.
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