County Championship: Chris Dent hits ton for Gloucestershire

Chris Dent's century was his second of the County Championship season for Gloucestershire

Opener Chris Dent hit a century as Gloucestershire had the better of the first day against Lancashire.

Dent (116) and Will Tavare (53) made 81 for the first wicket before Jordan Clark drew Tavare into edging behind.

Gareth Roderick (31) was trapped lbw by Simon Kerrigan, who then removed Peter Handscomb (22) thanks to a spectacular diving catch by Ashwell Prince.

Peter Siddle finally had Dent caught behind after 247 balls, but his knock guided Gloucestershire to 322-7.

Dent's century was his second of the season, having endured a difficult 2014 in which he made just 436 runs in first-class cricket from 22 innings.

However, Division Two leaders Lancashire fought back in the final session as they removed former England wicketkeeper Geraint Jones and all-rounder Tom Smith late on.

Lancashire head coach Ashley Giles:

"It was a good toss to win for them. I thought we stuck to our guns pretty well.

"There were periods when we didn't get it right, but we stuck to the task and got our rewards at the end of the day.

"It's a big first hour in the morning. If we can finish them off quickly, we are well and truly in the game."

Gloucestershire head coach Richard Dawson:

"We've had a good day. I've just said to the lads, 'don't be disheartened, we did a lot of very good things there'.

"They bowled well in the last hour, which was tough. They got three or four in the last hour. As a general rule, we fought hard there.

"We need to add to that score in the morning. We've just spoken about getting as many as we can first innings and then we'll see."