Inspired Cockbain leads Gloucestershire to victory

DAY FOUR | Leicestershire CCC 421 & 201 for 9d for three v Gloucestershire CCC 275 & 348 for 6

SCORECARD | Available HERE

POINTS | Leicestershire 6, Gloucestershire 19

REPORT | An Ian Cockbain century inspired the hosts into chasing down a final day total of 347 in 79 overs to clutch victory from Leicestershire’s hands.

Ryan Higgins claimed a five-fer as the Gloucestershire bowling attack responded well to the Running Foxes’ lead.

The final day got underway as the County needed to post as many as runs in as little time as possible to give themselves chance of claiming victory in Bristol.

Rishi Patel (24*) and Lewis Hill (22*) opened the day at bat with Leicestershire on 125 for three.

They earned the partnership’s fiftieth run in less than one fourth day over, however, the fourth wicket partnership was broken only four overs later as Patel (44) feathered a Dan Worrall delivery through to James Bracey with the batsman approaching his maiden Running Foxes half-century.

The was the first in a series of wickets for the home side, as Leicestershire lost six wickets in 7.3 overs as they looked to take the game away from Gloucestershire.

Next to fall was Hill (38), as Higgins delivered a full toss that clattered the batsman’s off-stump. Higgins then struck again in the same over as Ben Mike (2) lost his middle stump from the full delivery.

Six runs later, and the hosts claimed the wicket of Callum Parkinson (3), as Harry Swindells wanted a quick two after sending Higgins’s wider delivery into the off-side.

Parkinson did not make it back to his crease in time following some useful fielding of Ian Cockbain which saw the Leicestershire captain run-out.

Higgins then struck twice in two balls and claimed his second innings five-fer with the wicket of Chris Wright (3), catching the Leicestershire seamer off his own bowling. Higgins’ fiver-fer figures were 16.3-2-62-5.

The bowler then struck with his next ball as Alex Evans (0) was run-out off the fielding of Chris Dent.

Leicestershire were 201 for nine as they decided that their lead of 347 was enough as they looked to claim the win in Bristol.

Kraigg Brathwaite and Chris Dent opened the batting for Gloucestershire who had a mountain to climb if they had any chance of earning a win from the fixture.

Leicestershire struck early with the wicket of Brathwaite (16) in the third over, as the batsman edged Alex Evans through to Rishi Patel at second slip who took the catch.

Only 14 runs later, and the Running Foxes had the wicket of who they would deem to be the danger man as Chris Dent (9) feathered Ben Mike’s leg-side delivery through to Harry Swindells who anticipated well, diving to his right.

Gloucestershire were 37 for two, as Leicestershire looked in a commanding position.

Four overs later, and the in-form Gloucestershire batsman, James Bracey lost his wicket for 20 after chopping on from Mike’s delivery.

The hosts were in need of any sort of partnership as they sat on 52 for three, needing 295 runs with seven wickets in hand.

The fourth wicket’s partnership of Tom Lace and Ian Cockbain really turned the tie into Gloucestershire’s favour, as they put on an incredible fourth wicket stand of 224, with Lace scoring 92 and Cockbain posting 101 before the stand was broken.

Lace was the wicket to fall as the batsman skewed a Parkinson delivery high into the sky which was met by Patel’s grateful hands who took the catch and dismissed the batsman.

Cockbain (117) then went on to form another useful partnership which posted 51 from 37 balls before it was broken, as he looked to send Parkinson for a maximum but was caught by Marcus Harris, with the majority of the County field placed around the boundary rope.

Parkinson then took the next and only other wicket of the fixture to fall from his next delivery, as Ryan Higgins (33) top-edged Parkinson’s delivery to Chris Wright who eventually took the catch at short-fine leg.

The hosts needed 21 runs from the remaining seven overs of the clash, and the seventh wicket partnership of George Hankins (7*) and Tom Smith (10*) saw them through with overs to spare in the day, with the final blow being Hankins driving Mike away for his first boundary of the day through the off-side.

Gloucestershire clutched the win from the Running Foxes’ hands in a day that yielded a total of 424 runs, winning by four wickets.

FIGURES (2nd inns) | Wright 18-3-80-0, Evans 15-3-73-1, Mike 16.2-2-65-2, Parkinson 26-1-93-3, Hill 3-0-14-0

TEAM | Hassan Azad, Sam Evans, Marcus Harris, Rishi Patel, Lewis Hill, Harry Swindells (wk), Ben Mike, Callum Parkinson (C), Chris Wright, Dieter Klein, Alex Evans

GLOUCESTERSHIRE CCC | Chris Dent (C), Kraigg Brathwaite, James Bracey (wk), Tom Lace, Ian Cockbain, Ryan Higgins, George Hankins, Tom Smith, Dan Worrall, Josh Shaw, Dom Goodman

IMAGES | Thanks to John Mallett of Outside Off for providing the images throughout the game.