Sanderson wickets give Northants edge over Glos

When play resumed 30 minutes later, the floodlights were on and new batsman Tommy Boorman middled a juicy half volley through the covers to get off the mark and signal a mini Gloucestershire recovery. Playing positively, the 21-year-old accrued four boundaries in all and contributed 22 runs in a stand of 47 for the fifth wicket with the obdurate Price. But Northants skipper Procter summoned startling late in-swing to bowl Boorman and further reduce the home side to 66-5 shortly before lunch.

Demonstrating an innate knowledge of when to play and when to leave, Price was doing his level best to hold the innings together. A model of sound defence, he had grafted 26 runs from 69 balls when Graeme van Buuren was lured into indiscretion at the other end by left arm seamer Liam Guthrie and pulled a short ball high to Conway on the fine leg boundary with the score 82-6.

Promoted three places up the order following his fine innings of 98 at Derby, Will Williams joined Price in a rearguard action, these two playing for the rain, which eventually arrived at 2.37pm with Gloucestershire 99-6. When play resumed an hour and 20 minutes later, tea had been taken,17 overs had been lost and a further 46.5 remained to be bowled.

Price and Williams continued to offer defiance, the latter surviving a barrage of short-pitched deliveries from Guthrie and Conway as the Northants bowlers strained every sinew in their attempts to exploit the tail. Finding runs marginally easier to come by now that the shine had left the ball, Price and Williams staged a useful partnership of 42 in 16 overs.

It was terminated by the returning Sanderson, who targeted the stumps and trapped Williams lbw for 18 as Gloucestershire slipped to 123-7. Craig Miles lasted just six deliveries before falling to Procter, who hit the top of off stump with a full-length delivery on his way to a wicket maiden.

Deciding that attack represented the best form of defence, Taylor chanced his arm in raising four boundaries in a quickfire score of 25 from 36 deliveries, playing his part in a valuable ninth wicket alliance of 29 that served to frustrate the visitors.

Caught at deep square in the act of taking on the short ball, he eventually succumbed to Sanderson, who completed his 25th five-wicket haul for Northants and his fourth of an increasingly productive season to reduce Gloucestershire to 153-9.

The patient Price completed a thoroughly-deserved half century via 146 balls with five fours before predictably running out of partners, Conway having Bell caught at the wicket without scoring to wrap up the innings.

Under pressure to stage a fightback, Gloucestershire's seamers undermined Northamptonshire's top order in the early-evening sunshine to redress the balance.

Taylor persuaded Vasconcelos to nick one to first slip with the score 27-1 before Bell took two wickets in as many balls to bring a sparse crowd to life.

Conway was bowled for a duck, Harrison was pinned lbw without scoring and Nathan McSweeney survived the hat-trick ball as Gloucestershire's overseas hired hand intervened in dramatic fashion to even things up.

Report by ECB Reporters' Network, supported by Rothesay.

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