Weather prevents Dent from adding to his 207
GLOUCESTERSHIRE’S Chris Dent was denied the chance to establish a new career-best score as the final day of the Championship match against Surrey in Bristol was abandoned without a ball being bowled, writes Andy Stockhausen.
Unbeaten on 207 overnight, the Bristolian had his sights trained on the personal best score of 268 he made on this ground against Glamorgan in September 2015.
However, no play was possible and Gloucestershire, replying to Surrey’s mammoth 603, were unable to improve upon their overnight first innings score of 443 for two.
Persistent light rain rendered the outfield sodden and ruled out any chance of play before lunch.
No sooner did the groundstaff remove the large covers and start the mopping-up operation after lunch, than the rain returned, ending any further prospect of a resumption.
Umpires Alex Wharf and Ian Blackwell staged a brief inspection at 1.30pm before electing to call the contest off soon after.
Dent, right, had scored a superb double-century in batting throughout day three of the contest. He reached 207 not out in eight hours.
The Bristolian, rediscovering his best form when it was most needed, shared a record-breaking opening stand of 296 with Marcus Harris, who raised an impressive 124, and then staged an unbroken third-wicket alliance of 147 with Miles Hammond, his fellow left-hander finishing undefeated on 75.
In the process, Dent passed the notable personal milestone of 10,000 first-class runs, and Gloucestershire attained maximum batting bonus points for the first time this season.
It was a chastening day in the field for Surrey, who failed to bank even a single bonus point. Jordan Clark and Colin de Grandhomme shared the slim pickings on offer, yet in reality, only Reece Topley mustered the line and length required to threaten.
Speaking on Saturday evening,
Dent said: “I’m not really one for landmarks, but it’s nice to get past 10,000 runs after being close for a while now.
“It’s nice to do it on a personal level but, more importantly, it was a very good day for the team.
“After losing our last couple of games and having a long time in the field against Lancashire and again in this match, we needed to have a long innings like that.
“Fortunately, Marcus Harris and Miles Hammond came good and I was able to go long myself.
“Surrey tried a lot of different tactics and we were able to combat those.”
LV= County Championship Division One – Bristol: Surrey 603 (J L Smith 234 no, J Clark 137, O J D Pope 84, S M Curran 64), Gloucestershire 443-2 (C D J Dent 207 no M S Harris 124, M A H Hammond 75 no). Match drawn.