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Derbyshire Falcons v Gloucestershire Gladiators
20/07/2010
Clydesdale Bank 40 Group B
At Derby
By Richard Latham
For a long time it was just an ordinary 40-over game. Derbyshire posted 225-8 and Gloucestershire were 103-2 off 22 overs in reply.
Then the rain came, the Duckworth-Lewis system came into play, and the match ended in total confusion.
An initial downpour reduced the Gladiators' target to 172 off 31 overs, which meant they suddenly has to start scoring at eight an over.
Then, with two more wickets lost and both teams checking at the end of each over to see who was ahead on Duckworth-Lewis the rain returned just in time to create chaos.
The scoreboard showed that Gloucestershire needed to reach 156 by the end of the 29th over to be in front.
But Garry Park had only bowled three balls when the umpires called a halt and neither team was sure who had won.
It transpired that the Gladiators had needed two runs off what proved the last ball - and that is exactly what Chris Taylor picked up by hitting the delivery through the leg side.
Gloucestershire had been fortunate in that had the game been abandoned one ball earlier it would have been a tie.
But that won't worry Alex Gidman and his side, who bounced back from the t20 disappointments to deserve their victory.
Anthony Ireland (3-46), Jon Lewis (2-41) and Richard Dawson (2-42) led another good all-round bowling display that made it difficult for the Falcons to attack on a slow pitch.
Dawson took the key wickets of Chris Rogers and Wes Durston just as the home side were looking to accelerate, but Wayne Madsen's 65 off 56 balls helped the Falcons post a challenging total in the conditions.
Gidman (45) and Will Porterfield (38) launched the Gloucestershire reply in fine fashion, but when both fell in quick succession just before the first rain break it gave Derbyshire a chance.
The revised target under Duckworth-Lewis looked a stiff one as it required a scoring rate far higher than in the game up to that point. But Hamish Marshall (24) and James Franklin (18) seemed to be making light of it.
The game threatened to swing again when they were dismissed in the space of six balls. Chris Dent also perished in the bid for quick runs, but Gloucestershire just managed to keep up with the required rate.
It was the narrowest of victories, but kept the Gladiators well placed to clinch a semi-final spot.
