County Championship: Gloucestershire relegated despite three-wicket win over Warwickshire

Chris Dent helped Gloucestershire to their first win of the season

Relegated Gloucestershire edged to their first County Championship win of the season as they beat relegation-threatened Warwickshire by three wickets.

After bowling the Bears out at Bristol for 128, the hosts needed just 148 to win.

Gloucestershire, whose relegation had been confirmed earlier in the day when Kent beat Hampshire, slumped to 30-4.

A 97-run stand for the fifth wicket between Chris Dent (64) and captain Graeme van Buuren (49) then put Gloucestershire back in control.

Three wickets went down for 11 runs but paceman Tom Price, who had earlier taken four wickets to finish with a stunning career-best 8-27, helped his side get home on 149-7.

Price and Zafar Gohar took a further 23 balls to eke out the 11 more runs needed to earn his county their first Championship Division One win since 2005.

India spinner Jayant Yadav took nine wickets in the match for Warwickshire - but finished on the losing side

India spinner Jayant Yadav ended on the losing side despite taking match figures of 9-77.

It leaves 2021 champions Warwickshire now in serious danger of becoming the fifth team to be relegated in the following season after winning the title.

They must now win at home to expected runners-up Hampshire at Edgbaston next week - and hope that one of sixth-placed Yorkshire and Kent or Somerset, who play each other, are beaten.

Gloucestershire captain Graeme van Buuren:

"We've been playing some very good cricket in recent games and were able to take that momentum into this one. We've been close before this season, but the difference here was that we believed we could win.

"We've been fortunate enough to benefit from some standout individual performances - and for Tom Price to bowl with that consistency and patience was very special. It's fair to say this has been a breakthrough season for him and he's going to be a big part of the future here.

"We knew that chasing 148 was not going to be easy on that pitch. It turned throughout and batting was quite difficult. Once you were in, it was difficult for the bowlers to get you out. But playing yourself in was not easy either.

"Warwickshire are a quality team and did not win the Championship last year for nothing. It was always going to be a nail-biting finish and I'm so glad that we've managed to beat them at home."

Warwickshire sport director Paul Farbrace told BBC CWR:

"We gave it a really good go and, although things didn't work out the way we would have liked, that's all you can really ask. It's disappointing not to have put that killer punch on them, but we've shown fight and that's something.

"We have no divine right to win any game and this one kind of summed up our season.

"Had we ended that partnership a little sooner, it might have been our day. But it just proved beyond us, and we didn't get the rub of the green at times.

"Momentum plays a part in things, and you sometimes have sessions like we had the night before that you cannot recover from."