LV=County Championship - 10 July 2013
Kent Won By 2 Wickets
Venue: Cheltenham
Gloucestershire v Kent
Day 4
Miles Wickets Not Quite Enough
Glorious sunshine at the Cheltenham Festival was matched by a glorious game of cricket as Gloucestershire lost by two wickets to a Brendan Nash-inspired Kent.
The match remained finely balanced all day until a partnership of 58 between Australian-born former West Indies batsman Nash and James Tredwell swung it Kent's way.
Even then, though, there was unexpected drama. Nash had to retire through exhaustion after making 199 in five hours of batting on the hottest day of the year, with 21 still required for victory.
Tredwell was bowled by Craig Miles with no addition to the score, but Charlie Shreck and Calum Haggett got the job done for Kent with 14 balls left.
Miles claimed four wickets for Gloucestershire, and there were two apiece for Will Gidman and Benny Howell, but this was Nash's day and he finished with 26 fours and a six to his name from a remarkable 230-ball innings.
Gloucestershire could not have wished for a better start to proceedings as Will Gidman's second ball of the day had Sam Northeast caught in the gully by Michael Klinger without a run on the board.
There was further boost in the 14th over when Daniel Bell-Drummond's defences were breached by Miles, who bowled him for 25.
Nash, however, was quickly into his stride and he took four boundaries from one over from Miles, with two struck through midwicket, one driven through extra cover and the other cut to third man.
Play was held up for nearly ten minutes after the batsmen complained that the sun was glinting off scaffolding above the sightscreen at the Chapel End, a problem that was solved by groundtsaff putting a big cover over it.
Kent reached 110 for two at lunch and Nash brought up his 52-ball half-century in the second over after the interval with a cover-driven boundary off Will Gidman.
The afternoon session brought Gloucestershire two more wickets as Robert Key, on 42, was taken by a tumbling Gareth Roderick down the legside off Miles and Ben Harmison, on 23, was caught behind off Howell.
Nash reached his third century of the season with the most fortuitous shot of his innings, a thin inside edge off James Fuller that just evaded Roderick behind the stumps and raced to the boundary. His hundred came off 119 balls and included 16 fours and a six, driven over midwicket off Tom Smith's left-arm spin.
Kent looked to be gaining the initiative as Darren Stevens hit a quickfire 30 in a stand of 75 in 12 overs with Nash. But Miles returned at the College Lawn End to claim his third wicket when he had the veteran all-rounder taken at slip by Alex Gidman, who grasped the waist-high chance.
Geraint Jones helped Nash add 55 for the sixth wicket, but then an attempted cut at Will Gidman only resulted in Roderick claiming his third victim of the innings. He soon had a fourth as Philander edged Howell to depart for two and leave Kent on 332-7.
Tredwell and Nash saw off the threat of the second new ball and had taken Kent to within sight of the finishing line when Nash went off through exhaustion.
Miles bowled Tredwell with no addition to the total, but Shreck, with three boundaries, and Haggett completed a dramatic win for the visitors.
Day 3
Gloucestershire captain Michael Klinger registered his fourth LV=County Championship century of the summer to set-up a potentially-thrilling finish on the final day of the Second Division match against Kent at Cheltenham.
Klinger posted an unbeaten 102 as Gloucestershire made 237-1 declared in their second innings and the South Australian has now scored more than 1,000 runs in all cricket this season.
Bottom-of-the-table Kent will bat tomorrow having been set a target of 411 to win in a minimum 96 overs.
Klinger and Kent skipper James Tredwell struck a deal during the lunch interval, contriving imaginative declarations in order to arrive at a meaningful finale.
Although only nine wickets had fallen in seven previous sessions, unsuspecting Festival-goers still looked mystified when Kent declared their first innings on 389-5 in the 101st over, forfeiting a fifth batting bonus point in favour of giving themselves an opportunity to win a four-day game for the first time in nine attempts this season.
Having agreed not to enforce the follow-on, Gloucestershire commenced their second innings 173 runs ahead with the intention of setting Kent a target to chase on the final day.
Left-hander Chris Dent picked up where he had left off in the first innings, playing shots all around the wicket and threatening a second successive century, albeit it against declaration bowling.
In the circumstances, the Bristolian was doubtless bitterly disappointed to offer a return catch to occasional spinner Sam Northeast after rushing to 82 from 75 balls and helping himself to 13 fours.
Having served as junior partner in an opening stand of 151, Klinger accelerated during the final hour to raise three figures from 118 balls with nine fours and a six.
Ben Harmison earlier became the fourth batsman to post a hundred on a flat College Ground pitch, the all-rounder realising the landmark from 141 balls in a near-faultless innings that included 12 fours and a six.
He shared in stands of 103 and 74 with Darren Stevens and Geraint Jones for the fifth and sixth wickets respectively and helped guide the visitors clear of danger after they had slipped to 212-4 in the morning session.
Brendan Nash was bowled off his pads by slow left armer Tom Smith in the act of sweeping for nine, while Sam Northeast was brilliantly caught down the leg side by wicketkeeper Gareth Roderick off the bowling of Craig Miles just six runs short of a century.
But veteran county campaigner Stevens slammed the door shut on Gloucestershire’s hopes of enforcing the follow-on, crashing 75 runs off 71 balls in a forthright innings that yielded 9 fours and 2 sixes.
Day 2
Festival Double ton for Alex
It was a red-letter day for Alex Gidman at the Cheltenham Festival as Gloucestershire made 562-5 declared against Kent, who responded with 165-2 by stumps.
Gidman began the second day's play on 145 and went on to make 211 before being run out by Brendan Nash's underarm throw from mid-on as he went for single off Charlie Shreck's bowling.
The bare statistics of his innings show that it came from 347 balls, included 25 fours and two sixes and he spent seven hours and 10 minutes in the middle.
But of more significance to the county's former skipper was that he surpassed his previous best first-class score - 176 against Surrey at Bristol in 2009 - and that he became Gloucestershire's first double centurion since Craig Spearman achieved the feat against Warwickshire at Bristol in 2004.
This was also Gloucestershire's first double hundred at Cheltenham since Australian Sean Young managed to do so against Derbyshire in 1997.
Gidman's career-best and double hundred were both warmly acknowledged by the College Ground crowd and he has now scored 894 first-class runs this season at an average of 74.5, quite a turnaround in fortunes for the 32-year-old from last summer when he only scored 528 runs
Gidman took a single off James Tredwell to better his previous best score of 176 and showed no sign of nerves as he approached a double hundred. He hit James Tredwell for a straight six to move into the 190s and then carved Ben Harmison to the backward point boundary to reach 199
A single to midwicket off Harmison's next delivery brought Gidman his 334-ball double century, which contained 24 fours and two sixes.
Gidman received great support from Hamish Marshall, who helped him put on 168 in 41 overs for the fourth wicket. The New Zealander became Gloucestershire's third centurion of the innings when he took a single to the cover boundary off Ben Harmison and it was the quickest of the three, from 156 deliveries, with 11 fours and a six.
It was also the first time three Gloucestershire players had scored a hundred in an innings since Kadeer Ali, Spearman and Marshall did so against Leicestershire at Grace Road in 2007.
Marshall and Benny Howell hurried Gloucestershire towards a declaration with a partnership of 53 in seven overs. Howell took 16 from one Shreck over, whicn included a pulled six over square leg, and was unbeaten on 34 from just 23 balls when Marshall's dismissal for 106 prompted the declaation from skipper Michael Klinger.
Marshall's fine innings was finally ended by off-spinner Tredwell, who garnered his first County Championship wicket of the summer when Calum Haggett took a well-judged catch, looking into the sun, on the midwicket boundary.
Bat continued to dominate ball as Sam Northeast and Robert Key took Kent to 61 for no wicket at tea with few alarms.
But it was not quite so comfortable for the batsmen in the final session as Will Gidman put everything into an excellent spell from the College Lawn End, while on-loan Middlesex spinner Tom Smith posed a few problems from the Chapel End.
Key reached his half-century from 94 balls, but was undone soon after when he pushed forward to Will Gidman and snicked a low catch to wicketkeeper Gareth Roderick.
Northeast, who had survived a sharp caught and bowled chance to James Fuller on 38, brought up his 86-ball half-century with a midwicket boundary off Smith and progressed to 79 by stumps.
However, Gloucestershire did have one more wicket to celebrate as Daniel Bell-Drummond was bowled by Howell for 21 with four overs of the day remaining.
Day 1
Great start to Cheltenham Festival
Gloucestershire enjoyed an excellent first day to the much-loved Cheltenham Festival as centuries from Chris Dent and Alex Gidman led them to 348-3 against strugglers Kent.
The pair treated a good-sized crowd at the College Ground to some superb strokeplay in the sunshine during a third-wicket stand of 267 in 73 overs. Dent progressed to a career-best 153 before being caught behind with four overs of the day remaining, while Gidman was unbeaten on 145 at stumps.
After winning the toss, home skipper Michael Klinger helped Dent get the innings off to a brisk start with a flurry of boundaries from the bowling of South African star Vernon Philander and Charlie Shreck.
Calum Haggett made the brekathrough for Kent in his second over from the College Lawn End. Klinger chased a wide delivery and only succeeded in edging it to Darren Stevens at second slip to depart for 20 with the score on 46. Haggett, who was released by Somerset without making a first-class appearance, struck again in his fifth over when Housego, on 13, got an inside edge onto his stumps. Tight spells from Philander and Stevens slowed the scoring rate and an evenly-balanced morning session ended with Gloucestershire on 98 for two from 31 overs.
It was a different story thereafter, though, as Dent and Gidman took advantage of the short boundaries square of the wicket and a quick outfield to lead Gloucestershire into a strong position. Gidman enjoyed a slice of luck on 38 when Brendan Nash failed to grasp a head-high chance at extra cover off Stevens. His second reprieve came on 58 when Stevens, at backward point, failed to hold a diving catch off Philander.
Dent also offered a chance on his way to three figures. The left-handed opener flicked the third ball after tea from Charlie Shreck down the legside, but wicketkeeper Geraint Jones was unable to hold a one-handed diving catch. Soon after, Dent swept James Tredwell's off-spin for a single to bring up his third first-class hundred and his second at Cheltenham, having scored a ton against Surrey at the ground two years ago.
Gidman reached his century eight overs later with a single to square leg off Tredwell and the 32-year-old is enjoying an excellent season, having given up the captaincy at the end of last summer.
Dent and Gidman accelerated the scoring rate in the closing hour's play and no bowler suffered more than Tredwell, who is still searching for his first Championship wicket of the summer. Dent struck him for two straight sixes and Gidman also hit him for six over midwicket as he ended the day with nought for 83 from 19 overs.
Kent finally had a third wicket to celebrate when Haggett struck with four overs of the day remaining. Dent flashed at a ball outside off stump and snicked a catch to Jones. His 270-ball innings contained 17 fours and two sixes, while Gidman has so far hit 19 fours and a six.