» Bracey keeps push for top four alive,
ACADEMY product James Bracey registered his highest Vitality T20 Blast score cricket as Gloucestershire successfully reached a target of 140 to beat Hampshire by seven wickets with 13 balls to spare at the County Ground.
Bracey scored his maiden T20 fifty in his ninth appearance and dominated a partnership of 102 in 11 overs with Michael Klinger on his way to a superb 64 from 48 balls.
Aneurin Donald hit a rapid 44, but too many batsmen perished to poor shots as Hampshire slumped to 139 for six in the face of incisive bowling from left arm seamer Chris Liddle.
Victory saw Gloucestershire move above Somerset into fourth n the South Group ahead of Friday’s derby showdown at Taunton.
Captain Klinger said: “That was a necessary win and, with four games to go, our fate is in our own hands.
I was really pleased with the performance and particularly the bowling group.
“We asked them to be aggressive and I thought they got more out of the pitch than Hampshire’s bowlers.”
Aneurin Donald batted really well during the powerplay, but I thought we dragged it back superbly after that, bowling a good length and building pressure at both ends.”
He continued: “It’s great to see a young player like James Bracey scoring runs in all forms of the game.
“He was so calm out there and played some really good shots. That left-righthand partnership helped matters and, hopefully, he will continue to be in good form and score runs at the top of the order.
“He’s a young bloke who is going to do well for Gloucestershire for many years to come and, maybe, even play for England one day.
“We now have two games against Somerset, one at their place on Friday and another here a week later.
“Because we are so close in the table, the winner of those games will be in a really good position to qualify for the quarter-finals.”
The win followed rain-affected defeats at Surrey and Middlesex.
Bracey and Klinger batted beautifull, making light of a slow pitch.
Expansive when afforded an oppor
tunity during a powerplay which spawned 62 runs, Gloucestershire’s second wicket pair elected to find the gaps, scamper quick singles and wait patiently for the bad ball thereafter, a strategy which had the virtue of keeping the scoreboard ticking over.
Having raised 40 from 38 balls and hit two sixes, Klinger succumbed to Liam Dawson’s off breaks, while Bracey departed soon afterwards, caught and bowled by Chris Morris.
That left Ian Cockbain and Ryan Higgins to complete the chase.
Gloucestershire paved the way for victory with an assured performance in the field, Liddle taking three for 25, Tom Smith a miserly one for 20 from four overs and Andrew Tye three catches on the boundary.
The hosts had first to weather a terrible storm, opener Donald taking the aerial route in clubbing a quickfire 44 from 23 balls.
He struck five fours and two sixes and Gloucestershire, who bowled too short initially, no doubt breathed a collective sigh of relief when the Welshman became the first of Liddle’s three victims, holing out to Tye on the long-on boundary.
Sam Northeast and Liam Dawson scored at a run a ball in adding 29 for the third wicket.
But the complexion of the contest underwent a fundamental change when these two departed in the space of eight deliveries
Dawson danced down the pitch and tried to hit Smith straight back over his head, only to fall short and find Tye on the boundary, while Liddle induced Northeast to top-edge a catch behind.
Too many batsmen failed to adapt to the slow pace of the pitch and former Gloucestershire man James Fuller perished in similar fashion, smashing a ball from Liddle straight down the throat of Tye at long-on as the visitors subsided to 107-5 in the 15th over.
South African veteran Chris Morris (18 not out) and Mcmanus (18) went someway towards repairing the damage, staging a partnership of 28 in three overs.
But when Tye had Mcmanus caught at square leg off a top-edged pull shot in the penultimate over, Hampshire were 135-6 and already consigned to falling short.