Essex facing the drop after defeat

Gloucestershire 245 for 8 (Gidman 80, Spearman 63, Kaneria 3-27, ten Doeschate 3-28) beat Essex 174 (Foster 49, Kirby 4-29) by 71 runs
Scorecard

Gloucestershire pulled themselves away from the Pro40 relegation zone with a 71-run win against Essex, who are now facing the drop. Steve Kirby took four wickets after Alex Gidman's aggressive 80 put Gloucestershire on course for a strong total.

Essex's run-chase floundered from the start with openers Varun Chopra and Mark Pettini gone with five runs on the board. Grant Flower soon became Kirby's second victim as Essex fell to 20 for 3. James Foster (49) and Ryan ten Doeschate (42) pulled Essex back into the contest with a stand of 68, but when Foster was run-out by Ian Fisher the last six wickets fell for 31.

Gidman had earlier blazed the ball to all parts during his 67-ball 80, 56 of which came in boundaries. Craig Spearman was equally destructive in his 63 which took 55 deliveries.

Danish Kaneria, who bowled intelligently for his three wickets, finally trapped Gidman on the back foot, while ten Doeschate also bagged three to haul in the run-rate. Ultimately, though, Gloucestershire had plenty.

Team	Mat	Won	Lost	Tied	N/R	Pts	Net RR	For	Against
Worcestershire	5	4	0	0	1	9	+0.721	909/151.4	833/158.0
Nottinghamshire	7	3	2	0	2	8	+1.083	1106/181.2	999/199.1
Sussex	7	3	2	0	2	8	+0.146	1071/186.5	1095/196.0
Lancashire	7	2	1	0	4	8	-0.068	697/111.3	693/109.4
Hampshire	6	3	2	0	1	7	+0.347	1124/173.3	1121/182.5
Gloucestershire	6	2	2	0	2	6	-0.335	877/155.0	920/153.3
Northamptonshire	6	2	3	0	1	5	-0.546	1045/187.0	1048/170.5
Essex	7	1	4	0	2	4	-0.711	920/177.0	845/143.0
Warwickshire	7	1	5	0	1	3	-0.656	1079/195.0	1274/205.5