Payne anchors Gloucestershire win

Gloucestershire 341 and 188 for 5 beat Glamorgan 378 and 148 by five wickets
Scorecard

David Payne made a career-best 62 as Gloucestershire secured a five-wicket victory over Glamorgan in their County Championship Division Two match at Bristol.

Payne, who came in as a nightwatchman when Chris Dent was dismissed on Friday evening, surpassed his previous highest score of 46 not out and hit 11 boundaries in his 103-ball innings, as Gloucestershire chased down 186 to win.

Payne put on 94 for the fourth wicket with Chris Taylor (39), who came to the middle after Gloucestershire had lost Richard Coughtrie and Kane Williamson in successive deliveries to Jim Allenby. Gloucestershire took 21 points from the match, having been deducted one for a slow over rate, and remain in with an outside chance of promotion following their fifth win of the campaign.

Glamorgan took seven points and are now out of the promotion race. Gloucestershire resumed on 53 for one, requiring 133 more for victory, and the dismissals of Coughtrie and Williamson in the 22nd over left them on 64 for three and far from certain of winning.

Allenby had Coughtrie caught behind by Mark Wallace for 22 and won an lbw verdict against New Zealander Williamson next ball. Payne, though, belied his usual number 11 place in the order with a confident display and nice array of attacking shots.

Payne, a former England Under-19 left-arm seamer, reached his 82-ball half-century shortly before lunch with a lofted drive to the midwicket boundary off veteran spinner Robert Croft. Taylor, Gloucestershire's leading run scorer this summer, looked in prime form at the other end and clipped left-arm spinner Dean Cosker for two successive fours through midwicket.

Gloucestershire reached 157 for 3 at lunch, with Payne on 62 and Taylor on 35, but lost two wickets in the first four overs after the resumption. Payne's fine innings was ended by the sixth ball after the interval when Croft spun one past his forward lunge and bowled him. Then Taylor played forward to Allenby and was leg before wicket, having struck five fours in his 88-ball innings.

Taylor's dismissal left Gloucestershire on 162 for five, but the Gidman brothers, Alex and Will, calmed any late nerves with an unbroken stand of 26 to clinch victory. Will Gidman drove Croft and Allenby for boundaries through extra cover in his unbeaten 13, while Alex Gidman turned a delivery from Allenby to the square leg boundary and hit Croft for a straight six, which ended the game, in his 12 not out.

Allenby finished with three for 44 from 15 overs and Croft took 2 for 18 from eight. Gloucestershire have a home match with Leicestershire and an away game with Northamptonshire remaining this season, while Glamorgan's last two games are at home to Middlesex and and away to Kent.