Saxelby Strikes Before Rain At Bristol
07/08/2012 18:23:05
Ian Saxelby claimed the important wicket of Hampshire captain Jimmy Adams as the visitors replied to a Gloucestershire total of 271 on the second day of the LV=County Championship match at Bristol.
But, although Benny Howell followed up by dismissing Bilal Shafayat, Neil McKenzie's unbeaten half-century took his side to 104-2 from 26.4 overs before rain washed out the rest of the day.
Gloucestershire had begun the morning on 265-8 and were able to add only six runs after a 45-minute delay before Richard Coughtrie and David Payne fell for 26 and eight respectively.
Then after Adams had fallen for nine, McKenzie made light of testing batting conditions to strike 9 fours in his 84-ball innings.
Howell claimed 1-11 from 4.4 overs of medium pace, sending back Shafayat to a slip catch by Rob Nicol. But Gloucestershire were prevented from building on that breakthrough when the rain returned.
At the close David Payne admitted Gloucestershire’s bowlers had not hit their straps in the Hampshire innings.
The left-arm seamer told this website: “We struggled with our line and length a bit out there and were not quite our usual selves. There were too many balls down the leg side.
“It could be because we have not played red ball cricket in Bristol since the end of May. The ball did not swing at all when we played Glamorgan at Swansea last week and playing here required an adjustment.
“But we cannot use that as an excuse. Bristol is our home ground and we ought to know how to bowl there by now.
“We will re-group and, hopefully, come back tomorrow with a bit more of a bounce in our stride. There is still a long way to go in this game and, although the rain is frustrating, there is still time to force a result.”
For more details of the second day's play click on Cricket and then Match reports.
