Taylor puts Glos back on top as wickets tumble

Rothesay County Championship, Division Two, Seat Unique Stadium, Bristol (day two)

Gloucestershire 154: Price 50*; Sanderson 5-47 & 21-3: Conway 2-11

Northamptonshire 127: Procter 38; Taylor 5-36, Miles 3-22

Gloucestershire 3pts, Northamptonshire 3pts

Match scorecard

Gloucestershire seamer Matt Taylor bowled his side back into contention as the wickets tumbled on day two of a fast-moving County Championship contest against Northamptonshire at Bristol.

Replying to the home side's first-innings 154, Northants were shot out for 127 inside 52 overs, Taylor returning figures of 5-36 with fellow seamer Craig Miles taking 3-22 on a day when 57.4 overs were lost to rain and bad light.

Captain Luke Procter top-scored with 38 for the visitors, who suffered a startling collapse in the final session, their last six wickets falling for 42 runs on a hybrid surface still offering plenty of assistance to the bowlers.

There was no let-up in the chaos when Gloucestershire recommenced their second innings in the early-evening gloom.

Harry Conway removed nightwatchman Will Williams and top order batter Ben Charlesworth with successive deliveries and Ben Sanderson sent back a second nightwatchman, Miles, as the home side reached stumps on 21-3.

Skipper Cameron Bancroft and Ollie Price prevented further loss and Gloucestershire, who lead by 48, will be hoping an improved weather forecast materialises when they resume in the morning.

Attempting to win a four-day game in Bristol for the first time since 2013, Northants had resumed on 37-3 and were immediately under pressure as Gloucestershire's seamers exploited a two-paced hybrid pitch and cloudy overhead conditions.

Left-armer Taylor struck an early blow, angling a delivery into leg stump and removing Nathan McSweeney lbw for six with the score 39-4 as batting continued to prove a hazardous business.

Procter and Saif Zaib were spared the test when a band of rain moved in soon afterwards, forcing the players off for an hour and causing 16 overs to be lost.

When play resumed beneath lighter skies, the fifth-wicket pair displayed commendable patience and discipline, eschewing risk in favour of waiting for the bad ball under the Bristol floodlights.