Glos waiting for first win after Middlesex draw
Ryan Higgins hit 155 for Middlesex against Gloucestershire
- Published
Vitality County Championship Division Two, Seat Unique Stadium, Bristol (day four)
Middlesex 203: De Lange 6-49 & 449-7 dec: Higgins 155, Holden 111, Eskinazi 65
Gloucestershire 322: Hammond 81, Van Buuren 75; Brookes 3-55 & 127-3: Price 52
Gloucestershire (13 pts) drew with Middlesex (11 pts)
Gloucestershire’s long wait for a County Championship victory continued as their Division Two match against Middlesex at the Seat Unique Stadium in Bristol petered out into a draw.
On a day which began with all three results still possible, Middlesex did their utmost to force a result by declaring their second innings on 449-7 and setting the home side a target of 339 to win in 58 overs on a hybrid pitch offering negligible assistance to the bowlers.
The visitors still fancied they had an outside chance of prevailing when reducing their opponents to 102-3 in the final session with 27 overs still available, but Ollie Price displayed resilience in compiling an unbeaten 52 as Gloucestershire reached 127-3.
Resuming their second innings on 262-3, Middlesex had earlier played positively in adding a further 187 in 36 overs, Ryan Higgins top-scoring with 155 and sharing in a stand of 202 for the fourth wicket with Max Holden, who contributed 111.
Stephen Eskinazi’s breezy 65 not out prompted the declaration, which came half an hour into the afternoon session.
Gloucestershire were never in a position to realistically pursue a first red-ball win since September 2022. Their 11-point haul from this game allowed Middlesex to overtake Sussex and assume leadership of the table after four matches, while Gloucestershire collected 13 points to move off the bottom.
Report supplied by the ECB Reporters' Network.