Sanderson on song again but late wickets take shine off a strong day for Northants

Exploiting bowler-friendly conditions and a hybrid pitch, the 37-year-old right armer returned figures of five for 47 in 19 overs as the home side were summarily dismissed for 154 inside 52 overs after losing the toss.

He was ably supported by Harry Conway and Luke Procter, who weighed in with two for 54 and two for 24 respectively on a day Gloucestershire's batters will want to forget in a hurry.

Ollie Price was the exception to that rule, the 24-year-old displaying eminently sound judgment in staging a face-saving innings of 50 not out which spanned four hours and enabled Gloucestershire to recover from the wreckage of 19-4 and at least give their bowlers something to defend.

Gloucestershire's seam attack then mounted a spirited fightback in the final half hour, Matt Taylor removing Ricardo Vasconcelos and Gabe Bell sending back Conway and Calvin Harrison in quick succession as Northants reached the close on 37 for three, still 117 behind, at the end of a day in which 25 overs were lost to rain and bad light.

Sanderson and Conway have forged a mightily effective new-ball partnership this season, taking 47 wickets between them prior to this game.

They proved irresistible on this occasion, combining forces to decimate Gloucestershire's top order after the home side had been inserted beneath leaden skies.

The rot set in immediately, Ben Charlesworth driving at an innocuous loosener from Sanderson and slicing the first ball of the innings straight to Liam Guthrie at backward point.

Gloucestershire had still to trouble the scorers when skipper Cameron Bancroft fell to Conway in the very next over, pinned in his crease by a fine delivery that moved off the seam and kept low.

Playing across his stumps, Miles Hammond was then strangled down the leg side, Lewis McManus pouching a catch behind to provide the dangerous Sanderson with another wicket as Gloucestershire lurched to seven for three in the fifth.

That soon became 19 for four, the wily Sanderson drawing James Bracey into playing at a ball that held its line to present McManus with his 300th first class dismissal.

Sanderson had taken three for four in five overs by the time rain afforded shell-shocked Gloucestershire a brief respite.

When play resumed 30 minutes later, the floodlights were on and new batsman Tommy Boorman middled a juicy half volley through the covers to get off the mark and signal a mini Gloucestershire recovery.

Playing positively, the 21-year-old accrued four boundaries in all and contributed 22 runs in a stand of 47 for the fifth wicket with the obdurate Price.

But Northants skipper Procter summoned startling late in-swing to bowl Boorman and further reduce the home side to 66 for five shortly before lunch.

Demonstrating an innate knowledge of when to play and when to leave, Price was doing his level best to hold the innings together.

A model of sound defence, he had grafted 26 runs from 69 balls when Graeme van Buuren was lured into indiscretion at the other end by left arm seamer Guthrie and pulled a short ball high to Conway on the fine leg boundary with the score 82 for six.

Promoted three places up the order following his fine innings of 98 at Derby, Will Williams joined Price in a rearguard action, these two playing for the rain, which eventually arrived at 2.37pm with Gloucestershire 99 for six.

When play resumed an hour and 20 minutes later, tea had been taken,17 overs had been lost and a further 46.5 remained to be bowled.

Price and Williams continued to offer defiance, the latter surviving a barrage of short-pitched deliveries from Guthrie and Conway as the Northants bowlers strained every sinew in their attempts to exploit the tail. Finding runs marginally easier to come by now that the shine had left the ball, Price and Williams staged a useful partnership of 42 in 16 overs.

It was terminated by the returning Sanderson, who targeted the stumps and trapped Williams lbw for 18 as Gloucestershire slipped to 123 for seven.

Craig Miles lasted just six deliveries before falling to Procter, who hit the top of off stump with a full-length delivery on his way to a wicket maiden.

Deciding that attack represented the best form of defence, Taylor chanced his arm in raising four boundaries in a quickfire score of 25 from 36 deliveries, playing his part in a valuable ninth wicket alliance of 29 that served to frustrate the visitors.

Caught at deep square in the act of taking on the short ball, he eventually succumbed to Sanderson, who completed his 25th five-wicket haul for Northants and his fourth of an increasingly productive season to reduce Gloucestershire to 153 for nine.

The patient Price completed a thoroughly-deserved half century via 146 balls with five fours before predictably running out of partners, Conway having Bell caught at the wicket without scoring to wrap up the innings.

Under pressure to stage a fightback, Gloucestershire's seamers undermined Northamptonshire's top order in the early-evening sunshine to redress the balance.

Taylor persuaded Vasconcelos to nick one to first slip with the score 27 for one before Bell took two wickets in as many balls to bring a sparse crowd to life.

Conway was bowled for a duck, Harrison was pinned lbw without scoring and Nathan McSweeney survived the hat-trick ball as Gloucestershire's overseas hired hand intervened in dramatic fashion to even things up. Northants reaction

Ben Sanderson: “Despite losing those wickets at the end, we've got to be pretty pleased with our position at the end of the day.

“We tried to bowl a little bit fuller and get them driving, and it worked out pretty well for us.

“We decided to bowl first because of the overhead conditions and the forecast of showers.

“We thought we'd take advantage of a bit of green grass and have a bowl.

“That's probably my worst five-for this season in terms of how I got my wickets, but I had a bit of luck today.

“The new ball partnership with Harry Conway is going well and he's a great lad to have at the other end.

“He's slightly different to me and plugs away and it's good that we've both been taking wickets.

“Ollie Price was very patient and didn't play at much outside off stump, just keeping in his shell and playing nicely.

“Hopefully, our batters will learn from that and do something similar."

Gloucestershire reaction

Batter Ollie Price: “The wicket offered quite a lot to the bowlers and did a bit more than we thought it would.

“We've had 60 to 70 overs bowled and 13 wickets go down on what has been a fast-moving day.

“We'd have liked a couple more wickets in that final session, but it looks as though we're in the game.

“My innings was not the most fluent, but it was nice to spend some time out there.

“It did get a bit easier eventually, but Northants have some high quality seam bowlers and batting on that surface was pretty challenging all of the time.

“Facing Ben Sanderson was not enjoyable and I played and missed and rode my luck quite a bit.

“When you've been bowled out for 154 it puts a bit of pressure on your bowlers.

“To come out and take those three wickets has given us all a lift.

“It's up to Northants to try and go past us and that won't be easy on that pitch."

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