Superb stand Bracey, Taylor seal thrilling win
JAMES Bracey scored a brilliant unbeaten century to propel Gloucestershire to a thrilling five-wicket triumph over Nottinghamshire in the Royal London Cup.
Chasing 295 to win, Gloucestershire 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 and Australian Marcus Harris weighed in with 48.
Notts’ Sol Budinger earlier made 89 from 56 balls, dominating an opening stand of 77 in 10.3 overs with Ben Slater, who contributed 34. Lyndon James contributed 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.
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.
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.
Budinger was 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.
Gloucestershire opted to take the pace off, Taylor and Smith bowling in tandem to good effect as the visitors, lost six wickets for the addition of 99 runs in 22 overs.
James provided consolidation in a sensible innings of 47 from 64 ball, but when he was bowled by Jared Warner in the 40th over, Gloucestershire sensed an opportunity with Notts teetering on 216-8.
The lower order took matters into their own hands, the last three batsmen between them amassing 48 runs in boundaries as ex-glos loanee Chappell staged an exhilarating stand of 52 for the ninth wicket in 5.5 overs with Hutton, who then added a further 28 with last man Paterson.
Gloucestershire lost openers Dent and Ben Wells inside 11 overs, the latter falling for 28 to a wonderfully acrobatic catch by Matthew Montgomery at midwicket off the bowling of Paterson, leaving overseas hired hand Harris and Bracey to carry the fight.
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 Montgomery, two runs shy of 50.
Montgomery’s off breaks yielded further dividends as Oli Price pushed uppishly to mid-wicket, leaving the home side on 115-4 in the 20th over.
That was the cue for Taylor to inject a surge of positivity, Gloucestershire’s captain producing a flurry of boundaries to shift the balance of power and ease the pressure on Bracey.
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.
Nottinghamshire’s bowlers were powerless to part the fifth wicket pair who sought to hasten victory by opening their shoulders.
Bracey won the race to reach 100, smashing Hutton back over his head for a huge six.
With the scores level, Taylor attempted to hoist Singh high over midwicket in pursuit of the six that would have secured him a hundred of his own, only to hole out to Martindale.
His innings occupied 55 balls and included 10 fours and five sixes, while Bracey’s 93-ball sojourn was adorned by nine fours and a brace of sixes.
Bracey said: “We have struggled to put back-to-back wins together all season, so that was our aim before the match. To do it in such style was very special.
“It was great to bring up a hundred with a six, but I owe a lot to Jack (Taylor), who took so much pressure off me.
“He came out and started hitting boundaries, completely changing the game with his positivity and it was a shame that he couldn’t get the hundred his performance deserved.”