At Bristol’s Seat Unique Stadium, in a one-sided Metro Bank One Day Cup match, Gloucestershire defeated Sussex Sharks by eight wickets thanks to a brilliant career-best performance by Ajeet Singh Dale with the ball.
In a match that was cut short due to rain to 41 overs per side, the 24-year-old fast bowler showed true venom in his bowling, taking 4 for 15 in nine overs and helping Sussex to 132 for 9. In List-A cricket, fellow seamer Zaman Akhter demonstrated his devastating skills by recording figures of 3 for 25, which was his best. Meanwhile, Danial Ibrahim top-scored for the outmatched visitors with 30 runs.
On the Duckworth Lewis Stern Method, Gloucestershire needed to chase 132 to win, but with to an explosive 49 not out from Cameron Bancroft and a brilliant 46 in 28 balls from Miles Hammond, they easily exceeded their mark with 21 overs remaining.
With a win, Gloucestershire may still advance from Group B to the knockout rounds, provided they win their remaining matches on Friday at Trent Bridge against Nottinghamshire and August 14 at Bristol against Leicestershire. In the 50-over competition, Sussex has now lost six straight games and is still at the bottom of the league.
On a green-tinged surface under cloud cover, Gloucestershire captain Jack Taylor won the toss and did not think twice about batting an inexperienced Sussex lineup.
Singh Dale’s selection proved to be correct as he rapidly amassed an impressive head of steam from the Ashley Down Road end, stunning the top order with a 3 for 11 new-ball session in seven overs that included three maidens.
A ball pitched outside off stump was nicked to Bancroft at second slip by Henry Rogers, who pushed at it, and Tom Clark, who was in form, sent a thickish edge looping to Hammond at backward point.
Charlie Tear may have made it through when Matt Taylor missed a close call off his own bowling, but when Singh Dale squared him up and Bancroft once more showed safe hands in the cordon, the Sharks were down to 19 for 3 in the eleventh.
Singh Dale, who bowled with true pace and precision, made his most cutting List-A contribution since taking four wickets for fifty-eight against Northants at Cheltenham a year ago. When he was replaced by Akhter, a 25-year-old seamer who bowled with remarkable precision in a six-over burst that produced 2 for 22, things didn’t get any better for the visitors.
Oli Carter, fed up with being pinned down, was bowled for 10 when driving. Meanwhile, the previously unyielding Zach Lion-Cachet returned to a straight drive that struck middle and off, departing for a resolute 57-ball 27 as Sussex staggered to 65 for 5.
With the score at 94, sluggish left-armer Graeme van Buuren convinced Bertie Foreman to cut uppishly to backward point, giving Gloucestershire more momentum before the rain hit.
After grinding their way to 30 from 57 deliveries, Ibrahim offered a return catch to Akhter, mistiming a pull shot, and Sussex lost another wicket almost immediately. They resumed their innings on 101 for 6 with nine overs remaining to salvage a disastrous position.
Then, to surpass his previous best return and condemn the visitors to 106 for 8, Singh Dale had Aristides Karvelas caught at mid-on, very certainly underachieving. In an innings that produced a meager 11 fours, Archie Lenham scrambled a useful 24 before being run out by replacement fielder Joe Phillips in the penultimate over.
The tone for the chase was established by Hammond and Bancroft, who were able to raise boundaries far more easily in a progressive partnership of 73 in nine overs. Before replacing Sean Hunt after giving up 31 runs in three overs with the new ball, Karvelas proved costly. Gloucestershire’s openers used some careless bowling to raise the score to 50 from seven overs.
A display of aggression saw Hammond smash Jack Campbell for three sixes in as many balls on route to a rapid forty-six, only to blot his copybook by attempting to force a sixth four with a delivery from Hunt high to mid-off.
The home team maintained their pressure on the opposition as Bancroft took advantage of a free hit to smash an intimidating six over mid-wicket against Ibrahim. There was no discernible slowdown in the pace of scoring. Ollie Price was trapped at backward point by Hunt, but Bancroft was unbreakable in an innings that lasted 53 balls and featured five fours and a six, bringing Gloucestershire level on points with Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire while also raising their net run rate.
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