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Sensational Bracey & Taylor partnership leads Glos to victory over Notts

10 August 2022

James Bracey scored a brilliant unbeaten century to propel Gloucestershire to a thrilling five-wicket triumph over previously unbeaten Nottinghamshire in an entertaining Royal London One-Day Cup contest at the sun-drenched Seat Unique Stadium in Bristol.

Chasing 295 to win, the home side reached their target with 10.2 overs to spare thanks to a superb fifth wicket stand of 179 between Bracey and Jack Taylor, who made 104 not out and 95 respectively to help Gloucestershire achieve a second success on home soil in the space of four days.

Australian Marcus Harris weighed in with a useful 48, while off spinner Matt Montgomery proved the pick of the Nottinghamshire bowlers, returning figures of 2-48 from seven overs.

Sol Budinger had earlier staged a high-class innings of 89 from 56 balls, dominating an opening stand of 77 in 10.3 overs with Ben Slater, who contributed 34. Lyndon James contributed a workmanlike 47 during the middle overs and Zak Chappell, Brett Hutton and Dane Paterson scored 32, 28 and 21 not out respectively to ensure the tail wagged as Nottinghamshire recovered from 216-8 to register a competitive 294 all out in their 50 overs.

Gloucestershire relied heavily on spin, Taylor, Tom Smith and Zafar Gohar sending down 30 overs and taking five wickets between them, while Paul van Meekeren claimed 3-73 on a day when the home side's seam attack found the going hard.

Back-to-back victories over Somerset and Nottinghamshire have revived Gloucestershire's prospects of making the knockout stages and their account will move into credit if they defeat Durham at Riverside on Friday. Despite suffering a first defeat of the campaign in this format, Nottinghamshire will remain well-placed to reach the quarter-finals should they overcome Middlesex at Trent Bridge in their next outing.

In buoyant mood following comprehensive victories over Sussex and Somerset, Nottinghamshire's top-order seized the initiative after winning the toss, Budinger and Slater trading almost exclusively in boundaries to raise 50 in 7.5 overs as Gloucestershire's seamers struggled with their line. Boasting a career average of 55 in List-A matches, Slater had moved effortlessly to 34 from 36 balls when he drove Zafar and was brilliantly held by Chris Dent on the run at mid-on.

Striking the ball cleanly from the outset, Budinger required 33 deliveries to raise 50, in the process taking van Meekeren for 17 runs in one over. Demonstrating guile in the face of spin, he also summoned no little power in accruing 7 fours and 5 sixes, and was just 11 runs short of what would have been a sparkling hundred when an unexpected loss of concentration caused him to hoist slow left armer Smith to the on-on boundary.

Unperturbed by Nottinghamshire's early onslaught, Gloucestershire opted to take the pace off, Taylor and Smith bowling in tandem to good effect as the visitors, handily-placed on 117-2, lost six wickets for the addition of 99 runs in 22 overs.

Fortunately for the visitors, James provided consolidation in a sensible innings of 47 from 64 balls, the Academy graduate from Worksop deploying low-risk options and running hard between the wickets to keep the scoreboard ticking over during the middle orders. But when he was bowled by Jared Warner in the 40th over, Gloucestershire sensed an opportunity with the Midlands county teetering on 216-8 and in danger of falling short.

Thereafter, the lower order took matters into their own hands, the last three batsmen between them amassing 48 runs in boundaries as Nottinghamshire reasserted their authority during the final 10 overs. Inside knowledge garnered during two loan spells with Gloucestershire this summer no doubt assisted Chappell, who bit the hand that had so recently fed him by staging an exhilarating stand of 52 for the ninth wicket in 5.5 overs with Hutton, who then added a further 28 valuable runs with last man Paterson.

In need of solid foundations, Gloucestershire lost openers Dent and Ben Wells inside 11 overs, the latter falling for 28 to a wonderfully acrobatic catch by Montgomery at mid-wicket off the bowling of Paterson, leaving overseas hired hand Marcus Harris and Bracey to carry the fight to the visitors. These two added 56 in seven overs to keep the required rate below six, only for Harris to be bowled by a straight delivery from the ubiquitous Montgomery when just two runs shy of 50. 

Montgomery's off breaks yielded further dividends in his next over, Oli Price pushing uppishly to mid-wicket, his tame dismissal leaving the home side on 115-4 in the 20th over. That was the cue for new batter Taylor to inject a surge of positivity, Gloucestershire's captain producing a flurry of boundaries to fundamentally shift the balance of power and ease the pressure on Bracey, who himself proved no slouch in raising a progressive 50 from 54 balls.

In authoritative mood, the no-nonsense Taylor required 24 deliveries fewer to attain the same landmark and the partnership entered three-figure territory in the 33rd over, at which point Gloucestershire needed to score a further 80 runs at under five an over. Now under intense pressure, Nottinghamshire's bowlers were powerless to part the fifth wicket pair who, emboldened by their success, sought to hasten victory by opening their shoulders, much to the delight of the home crowd.

Bracey won the race to reach 100, smashing Hutton back over his head for a huge six to spark a standing ovation. With the scores level and one run needed to win, Taylor attempted to hoist Singh high over mid-wicket in pursuit of the six that would have secured him a hundred of his own, only to hole out to Martindale. 

His high-octane innings occupied 55 balls and included 10 fours and 5 sixes, while Bracey's 93-ball sojourn was adorned by 9 fours and a brace of sixes, these two providing rich entertainment for those brave enough to endure the searing heat.

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