Sussex vs Gloucestershire: County Championship day 4 match report

Sussex took just 45 minutes and 9.5 overs to wrap up victory over Gloucestershire by 339 runs on the fourth morning of the match.  It was their third win of the season. 

But the result means Gloucestershire end the summer without a single triumph in the second division of the LV= Insurance County Championship.

Gloucestershire resumed on 113 for five, needing another 400 runs for victory.  Their far fetched hopes were further hit by the news that Ed Middleton would not bat after injuring himself diving in the field the previous day.

There were two wickets each for Brad Currie – giving him six in the match, the same as Sean Hunt – and Jack Carson, whose second was the 100th first-class victim of his highly promising career.

Gloucestershire captain Graeme Buuren finished unbeaten on 67 but Sussex, encouraged by the knowledge that a win could deliver them third place in the table, worked away at the other end.

They broke through in the third over of the morning, when Currie had Zafar Gohar caught behind,  and two balls later Matt Taylor gave Tom Clark the chance to improve on his already growing reputation as a slip catcher. 

Then it was the turn of Carson.  Josh Shaw had hit a six and two fours in his breezy 18 but was well caught by Fynn Hudson-Prentice as he attempted another boundary.  Zaman Akhter looked a more than useful No 11 as he reverse-swept Carson for six.

But he was lbw for 17 as he attempted to repeat the stroke. Sussex were left regret the fact they had been deducted 17 points this season for various reasons. But their third win was as many as they had achieved in the previous three summers put together.

Report provided by ECB Reporter's Network

Day 4 post-match reaction from Paul Farbrace