County land vital win at Cheltenham

Gloucestershire versus Leicestershire, Specsavers County Championship, Day 3:

SCORECARD | Available through ESPN Cricinfo HERE

INTERVIEW | An interview with Andrew McDonald by BBC Radio Leicester's Richard Rae is available HERE

HIGHLIGHTS | The highlights of the third and final day are available HERE

REPORT | Paul Horton and Mark Cosgrove made vital half-centuries as Leicestershire recorded a priceless six-wicket victory inside three days on their travels at promotion rivals Gloucestershire.

The hosts started day three 98 runs ahead with six second innings wickets remaining, so things were delicately poised at Cheltenham.

Ben Raine opened up both ends with the crucial wickets of set batsmen Michael Klinger (54) and Jack Taylor (24) before Clint McKay claimed three quick victims.

Benny Howell and Josh Shaw shared 48 for the last wicket as the hosts were dismissed for 215, Leicestershire therefore requiring 181 to win with just over five sessions remaining.

Gloucestershire had their tails up with Leicestershire at 16-2 but a third wicket stand of 108 between County’s skipper and vice-captain broke the back of the chase.

To put their efforts into context, it was the only three-figure stand of the game and just three 50s had been registered in this fascinating contest before they came together.

The result takes Leicestershire up to fourth place but, more importantly, the 20-point haul meaning the team sits 11 points leaders Essex with six games to play. Gloucestershire also contributed fully to a fine game and are very much in the promotion race themselves, currently sitting third in the table.

Cheltenham College looked a picture in the morning sunshine with the groundstaff having worked tirelessly following substantial rain in the area last night.

Gloucestershire resumed day three at 122-4 and the match immediately produced drama. Taylor edged the very first ball just beyond the grasp of Mark Pettini at gully, the ball running down to the vacant third man boundary.

The bowlers continued to threaten; another Taylor nick off McKay dropped inches short of Cosgrove at second slip while an inside edge by Klinger off Raine could have gone anywhere.

McKay and Raine also beat the outside edge on numerous occasions but a slice of fortune was always going to be needed in conditions that were still favouring the seamers.

Klinger responded well; an emphatic drive was sent through mid-on, a cover driven single from the Australian took the stand to 50, and a 100-ball half-century was registered with a dab towards cover point.

His eighth four arrived courtesy of a well-timed stroke through mid-wicket but Raine completely changed the complexion in the 52^nd over as Leicestershire finally got some deserved reward.

Klinger feathered through to O’Brien, and the all-rounder then struck Taylor on the pad as he looked to work to leg with Gloucs now effectively at 121-6.

McKay built on his colleague’s outstanding work by claiming two wickets in two balls, firstly brushing the pad of Craig Miles to gain an lbw verdict before knocking the off stump of David Payne towards O’Brien.

Liam Norwell survived the hat-trick ball but McKay, who took 3-20 today, went on to disturb his stumps in the next over to leave Gloucestershire nine down.

A frustrating last-wicket stand followed as Howell (20 not out) and Shaw (29) committed fully to their strokes.

Howell initially looked to farm the strike but was then happy to hand it to Shaw, who played one glorious cover drive for four as well as finding the fence on three other occasions.

The alliance came to a conclusion as Charlie Shreck pitched one up to Shaw, who clouted straight to Horton at mid-on.

An early blow arrived in Leicestershire’s pursuit as Angus Robson edged his first delivery from Payne to Will Tavare at second slip as County went to lunch at 11-1.

Horton drove with élan through the covers to get the afternoon off to a fine start but the game continued to provide twists and turns.

Gloucestershire thought they had claimed a second wicket when Horton edged Payne but umpires Graham Lloyd and Michael Gough could not be certain that the ball carried to Tavare in the cordon.

The Festival hosts did not have to wait long to claim another success, however, as Neil Dexter (3) shouldered arms and saw his stumps rattled by Norwell.

The game was right in the balance but Horton and Cosgrove took the sting out of the home attack with a mixture of watchful defence and fluent strokeplay.

Horton produced another classy cover drive and also edged just over the cordon for four while Cosgrove steered beautifully down to third man to open his boundary account before dispatching another trio of deliveries through the off-side as the score passed 50.

A guided four from Cosgrove thudded into the advertising board in front of the temporary scoreboard while four leg byes took the alliance beyond 50 in the 22^nd over of the innings.

Textbook cover and square drives from Horton off Howell both raced up the slope to take the target into double figures, and after Cosgrove collected a further four from the bowling of Miles, Horton guided to third man and flicked to fine leg for two more boundaries.

Cosgrove progressed to 50 from 88 balls with his seventh four, a nicely timed dab down to third man that also registered the 100 partnership, but fell for 56 when striking the slow left arm of Graeme van Buuren to Tavare at mid-wicket.

Leicestershire went to tea requiring a further 53 to win and Horton swiftly progressed to 50, the landmark including seven boundaries and soaking up 113 deliveries.

The opener continued to impress by rocketing a couple of drives through mid-off and the covers while also clipping off his pads and steering down to third man.

Among Horton's boundary gathering, the umpires faced a similar scenario to the one that arose just after lunch when Pettini nicked Norwell towards Tavare at second slip. He survived and helped Horton to take the target down to 18 by the time that the opener was leg before to van Buuren for the game's highest score, 73.

O’Brien (11 not out) joined Pettini (18 not out) and the duo guided the side home in the pleasant evening sunshine to round off a fabulous week at the Festival for the Foxes.

Leicestershire take another break from red ball action with Royal London One-Day Cup matches and the final NatWest T20 Blast fixture to come. The team make a Championship return against Derbyshire at the FCG on Thursday, August 4.

Bowling figures for Leicestershire: McKay 17-4-43-3, Jones 11-0-44-0, Raine 15-3-54-3, Dexter 10-2-25-2, Shreck 13.1-3-33-2