REPORT: Lancashire bat through the final day to seal draw
Today's match report presented by C&C Insurance Brokers
Luke Wells and Tom Hartley produced a vital seventh wicket stand as Lancashire batted out the final day of this Rothesay County Championship match with Gloucestershire to seal a draw that maintained their unbeaten start to the season.
Gloucestershire declared on their overnight score of 589 for eight with a lead of 139 runs and had Lancashire in trouble at 89 for three before lunch and then again on 160 for six with 45 overs still to be bowled.
It was a fine attempt to force a result by the visitors but a defiant partnership of 69 from one ball short of 28 overs between Wells (36) and Hartley (37) either side of tea steered the Red Rose side to safety with Lancashire 255 for eight when the draw was agreed at 5.53pm with eight overs left.
Lancashire take 12 points from the match and Gloucestershire 13.
Gloucestershire skipper Cameron Bancroft would have been delighted with the response of his bowlers who were excellent in claiming three Lancashire wickets in the morning session on a fairly unresponsive pitch.
Keaton Jennings and George Bell began in sprightly fashion, posting a 50 partnership inside 11 overs that included a bizarre moment when an attempted slower ball from Josh Shaw bounced twice before Bell hammered it away through square leg for four.
But both openers departed in quick succession to slip catches by Bancroft without adding to the score, Bell off Tom Price for 28 and Jennings off Ajeet Singh Dale for 16.
First innings century-maker Marcus Harris began positively with four boundaries but became the third wicket to fall when he was dragged forward by left arm spinner Graeme van Buuren and stumped by James Bracey for 24.
With Lancashire firmly on the back foot at 89 for three, Josh Bohannon and Matty Hurst dug in to steady the innings with a partnership of 54 either side of lunch.
But just after the pair had taken Lancashire into the lead Tom Price removed them both, Hurst inside edging onto his stumps for 33 while Bohannon edged to Bancroft at second slip for 30 with the Red Rose side five wickets down and just 13 runs ahead.
When van Buuren had George Balderson caught behind for 2 with just under half the day’s allocation of overs left, Gloucestershire were in the driving seat with a realistic ambition they could win at Emirates Old Trafford for just the eighth time in 80 Championship matches.
They were thwarted by Wells and Hartley who both survived the odd scare, principally when Cameron Green at midwicket got fingertips to a fierce pull by Hartley off van Buuren early in his innings.
But both were solid in defence and attacked where possible, and by the time Wells became van Buuren’s third wicket when nicking one behind with Lancashire 90 runs ahead and 17 overs left, their partnership had effectively saved the game.
Hartley departed for 37 off 117 balls when edging behind off Singh Dale just before the close but Tom Bailey (9 not out) and Saqib Mahmood (0 not out) safely negotiated eight further deliveries before the players shook hands.
The result means Lancashire will be hunting a first win of the season when they travel to Northampton on Friday.
“I think we've batted better, and just missed out on batting bonus points, which the batting group has reflected on,” said Keaton Jennings reflecting on the match.
“I thought as a bowling group we were better this week, despite the outcome,” he added.
“But we always keep finding ourselves on the wrong side of, not the result, but the manner in which the result has come around.
“We need to be better; we need to produce better. Ultimately, that's the bottom line.
“I think we need to put ourselves under less pressure and bat better for longer periods of time.
“Essentially points get you promoted. We need to try and get every point we can. I think we probably messed up in that hour leading into trying to get to the (extra batting) bonus point. We left too much (to do), too late.
“Would that have made a key difference in the game? Maybe we wouldn't have put ourselves under the pressure we had today. But would it have changed the results in the game? Probably not. Would it have changed the pressure we felt today? Maybe.
“I think you have to be tough to beat as a starting point in order to go and win games of cricket. You don't want to be getting steamrolled every game.
“Last year we had won more games than we did the previous year, and we got relegated. So, we weren't tough to beat despite having won more games.
“But you still have to play good cricket in order to deserve the right to win games which we haven't done over the last four first class games.
“There's a challenge we've laid down to each other, to ourselves, to make sure we do. We want to win games. That's fundamentally how you get promoted.
“Things have to go your way a little bit. We keep putting ourselves under the pump, which doesn't help, but it is tough cricket. You've got to be so good for so long and just so razor sharp, which is what you want to be.
“We need to make sure that guys are sharp and playing good cricket. It's not just a matter of putting on a jersey and running out there and saying you represent Lancashire.
“That's not quite good enough. You need to make sure you are putting Lancashire in match-winning positions.”
Ken Grime
Photos: Luke Adams & Dan Adams
