Kane Efforts Not Enough At Chelmsford
4 June 2012
A fine 77 from Kane Williamson wasn't enough to save Gloucestershire from an eight-wicket Clydesdale Bank 40 defeat by Essex at Chelmsford.
The New Zealander's 73-ball innings helped his side to 224-5 after losing the toss, Ian Cockbain hit 52 off 44 deliveries and Jack Taylor's rapid 22 not out ensured a challenging total.
But after Ian Saxelby removed Mark Pettini with the third ball of the Essex reply, Ravi Bopara (120 not out) and Tom Westley (82) led the hosts to victory with 19 balls to spare.
It was not a good day for Gloucestershire's bowlers, who failed to match the accuracy of the home attack. The visitors were restricted to 122-4 off their first 30 overs.
Although the last ten overs of the innings produced 102 runs, thanks to Williamson, Cockbain and Taylor, Essex were always on course after a brisk start to their innings.
Bopara boosted his chances of an England call-up this summer, reaching a fluent century off 91 balls, with 8 fours and 2 sixes.
He received excellent support from Westley, who made his runs off 99 balls before being well stumped down the leg side by Jon Batty off Will Gidman.
The result left Gloucestershire in third place in Group A with four points from as many games
Skipper Alex Gidman said: "We didn't bowl as well as we can at the start of the Essex innings. If you give class players easy scoring opportunities they will take them.
"I felt momentum was with us at the end of our innings. We are a developing batting unit and have guys who can strike the ball well in the closing overs.
"It might have been a slightly below par score, but if we had taken a few wickets early on it would have been competitive.
"The pitch stayed pretty consistent all through and if you bowled at the top of off stump it was hard to score. Essex did that better than us.
"It's a blow, but only the Netherlands are on a roll in our group, with the rest of the teams beating each other, so we are still well in it."
For more details of the match at Chelmsford click on Cricket and then Match reports.
