Bracey 186 leads Gloucs to thumping win

Gloucestershire confirmed their qualification for the knockout stages of the Metro Bank One-Day Cup, making it six wins from six matches after James Bracey pummelled Notts Outlaws with a magnificent 186, the highest individual score of the 2025 competition to date.

The 28-year-old wicketkeeper-batter - dropped on 58 - numbered six sixes and 20 fours in an exhilarating 150-ball innings and though no other Gloucestershire batter made fifty, with skipper Cameron Bancroft's 46 the next highest score, the Group A leaders still piled up 343 for 7 in their 50 overs.

It was 52 too many for the Outlaws, bowled out for 291 in the 48th over, their qualification chance hanging by the thinnest of threads, if not mathematically dead. Matt Taylor, Jack Taylor and Craig Miles took two wickets each.

Rob Lord (2 for 60) was the pick of the home attack but it was with the bat that the Outlaws needed to shine. Skipper Haseeb Hameed made 80 from 88 balls and Jack Haynes continued a good run of form with 57 from 66 but a relatively inexperienced batting line-up needed more from both.

Bracey's score is the second highest in his county's List A cricket history - bettered only by his own unbeaten 224 against Somerset two years ago. He led partnerships of 121 for the first wicket with Bancroft and 101 with Ollie Price for the second.

The left-hander looked sharp from the outset, punishing Lord with a pull for six and three back-to-back fours as Gloucestershire cruised to 50 without loss in 10 overs.

After reaching 51 from 51 balls, his one big moment of good fortune came shortly afterwards as Ben Slater put him down at long-off and a breakthrough for the home side did not happen until the 23rd over when Bancroft was taken at mid-off. He and Bracey had shared their second three-figure opening stand of the campaign.

Bracey completed his fourth List A hundred, the first of this season, from 98 deliveries, needing only another 30 to turn it into 150. His partnership with Price ended when the latter top-edged to mid-off for 34 but at 256 for 2 with 10 overs left, Gloucestershire had the platform for a substantial score.

In the event, the home attack landed a few blows, Lord taking two in two to dismiss Ben Charlesworth and Miles Hammond, James Hayes deflecting Graeme Van Buuren's drive into the stumps to run out Jack Taylor and having Daaryoush Ahmed caught on the boundary.

Bracey was ultimately caught at short fine leg reversing James, who conceded 20 from his last over towards a total that looked daunting enough.

An early wicket apiece for Matt Taylor and Josh Shaw did not improve the outlook for Notts as Slater was caught at slip and Ben Martindale chipped to mid-on.

It left much responsibility on the shoulders of Haynes and Hameed. Haynes responded with his fifth half-century in seven innings in the competition but was caught behind off the glove attempting to pull Miles, by which time Gloucestershire's bowlers were applying the squeeze.

James was caught on the cover boundary off Ahmed, the right-arm seamer who is the least experienced of this Gloucestershire bowling attack and with the required rate pushing towards 11 an over, Sammy King perished for 21, caught at the second attempt by Ahmed behind square on the leg side off Miles, before van Buuren picked up a well-deserved wicket on his 35th birthday as Hameed miscued to extra cover.

Jack Taylor removed Joe Pocklington and Dane Schadendorf (28 off 22), Matt Taylor dismissed Lord (27 from 18) and Price wrapped up the win as Brett Hutton was caught on the long-on boundary.