Rain puts paid to tense finish with Northants in command

Rain put paid to the prospect of an exciting finish at Wantage Road as Northamptonshire and Gloucestershire were eventually forced to settle for a draw in the Rothesay County Championship.

The contest had been nicely poised when the weather intervened, edging in favour of the home side with Gloucestershire on 214 for six, needing another 136 from a minimum of 24.2 overs.

Northamptonshire had set their opponents a target of exactly 350 after rattling up another 101 from the first 12 overs of the day to declare on 259 for six, built around bristling knocks of 70 and 58 respectively from James Sales and Saif Zaib.

Miles Hammond threatened to spearhead a successful Gloucestershire charge with his innings of 80, while Cameron Bancroft also posted his second half-century of the game before the home side fought back.

Having already shared a century partnership in the first innings, Sales and Zaib were soon speeding towards another in the morning as they extended Northamptonshire's overnight advantage of 248.

Sales soon added the single needed for his second 50 of the match, while it was Zaib who really set the tone, banging two boundaries off the back foot and lifting Tom Price over the top for six.

The left-hander followed his partner to a half-century from 58 balls, but perished hooking Archie Bailey (three for 55) down the throat of deep midwicket - and Sales departed later in the same over, attempting to ramp and losing his middle stump.

However, Lewis McManus and George Bartlett continued to throw the bat as they added another 44, both belting Graeme van Buuren for leg-side sixes to lift their side's lead to 349 and trigger the declaration.

Gloucestershire began their chase solidly, scoring at around three and a half an over but lost two wickets prior to lunch, with Liam Guthrie moving one away from Ben Charlesworth to take the edge.

Calvin Harrison did well to scoop up a chance at second slip to dismiss Ollie Price and the home side might also have removed Hammond before he had scored, with a top-edged sweep off the spinner looping up but falling to safety.

Hammond was swiftly into his stride after the interval, dancing down the track to slam Harrison into the car park and belting Luke Procter for successive cover boundaries as he overtook Bancroft en route to his fourth half-century of the season.

A swept four off Harrison took Hammond to that landmark from 56 balls, with Bancroft following suit in the next over and, aside from an appeal against Hammond for obstructing the field - rejected by the umpires - the Gloucestershire pair looked comfortable.

Having matched his first-innings score exactly, the captain attempted to hook Guthrie and swiped through to McManus - but Hammond continued to pile on runs, cutting and pulling with assurance.

Yet Northamptonshire's decision to introduce Bartlett's occasional off-breaks paid dividends as he claimed his maiden first-class wicket on the stroke of tea, trapping Hammond lbw with the visitors just under halfway to their target.

Bartlett made way for Harrison, who played a key role in securing two further wickets as he tempted Cameron Green to drive to short cover and then sprang to take a thick edge at slip off James Bracey.

But just as Bracey's replacement Tom Price made his way out to the middle, the rain arrived and the covers were laid in place, stifling any chance of a positive result.