Roland-Jones helps Middlesex to victory over Glos

Toby Roland-Jones took four wickets as Middlesex beat Gloucestershire on day four

Rothesay County Championship Division Two, Lord's (day four)

Middlesex 634-9d: Du Plooy 263*, Morgan 97, Cracknell 64, Geddes 60; Singh Dale 5-108

Gloucestershire 286 & 281: O Price 61; Roland-Jones 4-57, Gohar 3-63

Middlesex (23pts) beat Gloucestershire (3pts) by an innings and 67 runs

Match scorecard

Toby Roland-Jones claimed four wickets to round off Middlesex's County Championship campaign in winning fashion as they ground down Gloucestershire on the final day at Lord's.

The 37-year-old seamer finished with 4-57, ending the campaign as Division Two's second highest wicket-taker behind Derbyshire's Luis Reece to dismiss the visitors for 281 in their second innings, despite Ollie Price's knock of 61.

Former Gloucestershire duo Zafar Gohar and Ryan Higgins backed up Roland-Jones with three and two wickets apiece as the Seaxes sealed an innings victory with 22 overs unused.

The result meant Middlesex finished fourth in the final table, 11 points short of the promotion places, with Gloucestershire in sixth.

Gloucestershire began the final day with nine wickets standing and rarely looked in danger of losing any more during the opening hour and a half where the ball swung, but not enough to cause genuine problems for Price and Joe Phillips.

Having dispatched Roland-Jones for two early boundaries and survived Noah Cornwell's appeal for a catch down the leg-side, Price settled into the groove, advancing to his half-century from 91 balls.

It was teenage seamer Sebastian Morgan who eventually made the breakthrough, sending down three tight overs before switching to the Pavilion End and gaining immediate reward as he tempted Phillips to drive to gully.

Morgan might also have removed Miles Hammond, who edged just short of second slip, but the left-hander quickly gained rhythm with a series of fours as he and Price guided their side through to lunch.

However, Price's return to the crease after the interval lasted one ball – a Roland-Jones delivery that kept low, nipped back and clattered into his off stump and, when James Bracey glanced Higgins behind without scoring, Gloucestershire were suddenly on the back foot again.

Having escaped when Morgan, leaping to his right at gully, could not cling onto a difficult chance, Hammond eventually perished to a similar stroke off Higgins to leave the visitors five down.

Graeme van Buuren, having taken 17 balls to get off the mark, sprang to life with a trio of boundaries off Roland-Jones and pounced on anything wide outside off stump as he and Jack Taylor added 49.

Gohar came on to dismiss his former county captain for 46, with Ben Geddes plunging forward at short leg to take a bat-pad catch, but the Taylor brothers steered their side into the final session.

Middlesex's hopes were lifted again by the new ball, which brought Roland-Jones the wickets of Matt Taylor – and then his elder brother, one short of his half-century – both snapped up at second slip.

With Ajeet Singh Dale falling to Gohar, there was still time for Marchant de Lange to launch a brief, defiant counter-attack against the spinner, hitting 14 from three deliveries before he was caught behind.

Match report supplied by ECB Reporters' Network, supported by Rothesay

'We'll reap the rewards next season' - reaction

Middlesex captain Leus du Plooy:

"They pushed us right to the end there. Four-day wins never come easy and I thought the boys put up a great fight, especially after losing a lot of time yesterday – it's just great to finally get over the line.

"It was a nice challenge for us in terms of how we want to play our cricket next year, we tried never to see it as just the last game of the season because it could easily have petered out and been a dull draw.

"I'm really proud of how they bowled as a unit, the way the guys went about their cricket, the way they fought on the field. Ro-Jo (Toby Roland-Jones) kept on wanting the ball, it was tough to say 'listen mate, you've got to chill out here and change it up'.

"The fact we could end this season with a win is spectacular, the whole vibe in the changing room is awesome and I'm sure we'll reap the rewards next season."

Gloucestershire head coach Mark Alleyne:

"Any four-day game that ends in defeat, you've probably not done a great deal right. The work was good, the guys tried hard but eventually we've been undone by an innings.

"I challenge any sports team to play dead rubbers, the game always needs that kind of percentage when there's something on it. As much as we talked about that, it just wasn't there.

"It was a consistently decent performance over four days, but not high-end – which is where you need to be to win four-day games. We were still good enough not to lose the game and that is disappointing.

"There's been a lot of progress made in the Championship – if we can take the first and last games of the season out, the rest has been really competitive. If there's any criticism, it's in not getting 20 wickets often enough, which is something we need to address."