Gloucestershire v Durham: Scores & match report

Match scores (Bristol)

Match draw

Gloucestershire 1st inns:  303 all out (Tavare 61, Dent 59, Taylor 47, Mustard 38; Rushworth 3-55, Collingwood 2-29, Jennings 2-34, Rushworth 2-43)

Durham 1st inns: 419 all out (Collingwood 97, Jennings 87, Cook 64; Miles 5-99, Liddle 2-67)

Gloucestershire 2nd inns: 320 all out (Dent 101, Tavare 55; Onions 4-68, Rushworth 3-75)

Durham 2nd inns: 85-4 (Jennings 30*; Payne 2-13)

Day four report

Chris Dent completed his 12th first-class century as Gloucestershire battled successfully to avoid defeat by Durham on the final day of their Specsavers County Championship match at Bristol.

Unbeaten on 64 overnight, the 26-year-old left-hander was dismissed for 101 as his side progressed from an overnight 175 for three to 320 all out, tail-enders David Payne, with 36 not out, and Chris Liddle, who added 21, contributing a valuable 45 for the last wicket.

Chasing 205 to win, Durham slumped to 15 for three as Payne claimed two wickets.

But Keaton Jennings and Michael Richardson steadied the ship with a stand of 38 and opener Jennings was still there, unbeaten on 30, when the players shook hands.

Durham closed on 85 for four with a further eight overs possible. Gloucestershire took nine points and Durham 12.

Earlier, Dent had built confidently on his overnight score and by the time he gave a slip catch off Chris Rushworth, who took three for 75, the left-hander had faced 258 balls and hit 11 fours.

He was dropped on 95 by Richardson at second slip off Rushworth and his departure came amid a spell in which the visitors claimed four wickets for two runs under dark clouds soon after lunch to raise victory hopes.

Gloucestershire plunged from 253 for four to 255 for eight as Graham Onions sent back former team-mate Phil Mustard and Craig Miles, the latter bagging a pair, and Rushworth pinned Jack Taylor lbw for two.

Durham moved in for the kill and it was 275 for nine when Liam Norwell was caught behind off a good delivery from Brydon Carse.

Another quick wicket would have given the visitors plenty of time to reach their target.

Instead, either side of a break for bad light, which forced an early tea at 3.10pm, Payne and Liddle showed commendable defiance.

Their partnership occupied 15.2 overs and by the time Durham set about their target only 31 overs remained in the match.

Suddenly it was the hosts scenting victory as Stephen Cook, Graham Clark and Paul Collingwood departed in the first seven overs.

Cook went off showing his bat after being judged lbw to the second ball of the innings, a full-length inswinger from Payne.

Clark chipped Liam Norwell to deep square where George Hankins took the catch and Collingwood became a second leg-before victim for Payne, having survived a confident appeal off the previous delivery.

Durham were 53 for four when Richardson lofted a catch to mid-off to give left-arm spinner Graeme van Buuren a wicket.

Cameron Steel had dropped down to number six, possibly because of a hand injury suffered while fielding off his own leg-spin bowling. He and Jennings comfortably saw Durham to the draw.

Day three report

Skipper Paul Collingwood fell three short of a century as Durham established a first-innings lead of 116 on the third day of the Specsavers County Championship match with Gloucestershire at Bristol.

Resuming on 270 for four, the visitors were dismissed for 419, with Collingwood last man out for 97, made from 178 balls, with 10 fours.

Michael Richardson hit 57 and shared a fifth-wicket stand of 122 in 42 overs with his captain. Craig Miles was the most successful Gloucestershire bowler with five for 99 from 28 overs.

By the close the hosts had fought back well, reaching 175 for three in their second innings to lead by 59, Chris Dent and Will Tavare making their second half-centuries of the match.

Collingwood batted comfortably through the morning session. Resuming on 28, the veteran former England all-rounder was unbeaten on 78 at lunch, with his side 372 for seven and 69 in front.

He reached his half-century off 112 balls, with five fours, shortly after Richardson had got to the same landmark from 130 deliveries, hitting four boundaries.

Miles then had Richardson caught behind and followed up by knocking back Stuart Poynter's off-stump when he had made nine in a seven-over spell of two for 26.

Brydon Carse was caught behind off Liam Norwell for seven, the seamer's 19th wicket of the season, in a morning session extended by 15 minutes to make up for time lost on the opening day.

The afternoon saw Mark Wood, on 13, top-edge a pull shot off David Payne to give a simple catch to Chris Liddle at mid-on before Graham Onions became Miles' fifth victim, caught at cover for 10 attempting to force a short ball through the leg side and miscuing in the opposite direction.

Collingwood had faced 178 balls when falling just short of his ton, well caught by George Hankins at slip, who showed great anticipation to hold the chance offered by a reverse paddle off Graeme van Buuren.

Cameron Bancroft's miserable start to his second spell with Gloucestershire continued when he played across a straight ball from Chris Rushworth and departed for 13 with their second-innings score on 30.

But Dent and Tavare then batted with confidence in bright sunshine, the latter being first to his half-century, off 70 balls with six fours.

Tavare again looked in good form until he was undone on 55 by the third ball of the match from Cameron Steel, brought on to bowl leg-spin in what proved an inspired move by Collingwood.

Steel appeared to deceive Tavare with a googly, which tucked him up and bowled him, much to the delight of the young bowler and his team-mates.

There was a lifeline for Van Buuren when he was dropped by wicketkeeper Poynter off Carse, but on 23 he was pinned lbw by Onions with the score 159 and Gloucestershire 43 ahead.

Dent had reached his half-century off 107 balls, with six fours, batting fluently without giving a chance. He was unbeaten on 64 at stumps.

Day two report

Keaton Jennings gave the England selectors a timely nudge as Durham enjoyed the upper hand against Gloucestershire on the second day of the Specsavers County Championship Division Two match at Bristol.

Although he missed out on a second successive hundred, the left-handed opener top-scored with 87 as Durham, replying to the home side's first-innings 303, reached the close on 270 for four.

Gloucestershire's bowlers staged a mini-revival in the final session, but the visitors trail by 33 runs and, with six wickets in hand, are still handily-placed to forge a meaningful lead and apply pressure on the third day.

In need of reassurance in the wake of heavy defeat at the hands of Nottinghamshire, Durham's top-order batting restored lost pride against a Gloucestershire attack that lacked penetration on an essentially true pitch.

Eager to further press his international credentials after registering a hundred on debut for England against India in the fourth Test in Mumbai in December, Jennings took centre stage, sharing in a progressive opening stand of 114 in 32.3 overs with Stephen Cook.

South Africa opener Cook appeared supremely secure in raising 50 from 80 balls and a hundred appeared to be his for the taking when he inexplicably lost concentration and, pursuing a delivery outside off stump from Chris Liddle, edged to Cameron Bancroft at first slip.

Demonstrating sound temperament and technique, Jennings carried on regardless, ruthlessly exploiting Greame van Buuren's slow left-arm spin and punishing anything short or wide from seam bowlers who lacked consistency.

Intent upon earning a place in the England squad for this summer's Test series against South Africa, the 24-year-old has improved his defensive game, and it came as a surprise when he succumbed 13 runs short of what would have been his second hundred of the season.

Last year's top run-scorer in Championship cricket and the Cricket Writers Club's player of 2016 was undone by a Liddle delivery that left him and was held by wicketkeeper and former Durham team-mate Phil Mustard via the finest of thin edges. He may have missed out on three figures, but his early-season form will surely not go unnoticed at Lord's.

Losing their momentum thereafter, Durham slipped from the giddy heights of 183 for one to 214 for four, Graham Clark and Cameron Steel falling to Craig Miles in quick succession as the home side fought back after tea.

Charged with the task of repairing the damage, experienced campaigners Paul Collingwood (28 not out) and Michael Richardson (25 not out) displayed a clear understanding of what was required in staging a restorative unbroken partnership of 57 for the fifth wicket as Gloucestershire's bowlers sought atonement for their earlier shortcomings by applying belated pressure.

Watchful in the extreme, these two safely negotiated 24 overs, eight of them against the new ball, to reach stumps without further mishap.

Finally afforded an opportunity after a blank first season on the county staff, former Sussex paceman Liddle adhered to the tenets of line and length without luck, proving the most consistent of Gloucestershire's front-line bowlers.

Durham's seamers made good use of the new ball to mop up the last three wickets for 38 runs in 15.2 overs after Gloucestershire had resumed their first innings on 265 for seven.

Jack Taylor and David Payne added 36 for the eighth wicket, but once the former edged Chris Rushworth to second slip three runs short of a half century, the innings unraveled rapidly.

No sooner had Gloucestershire banked a third batting bonus point, then fellow England bowlers Mark Wood and Graham Onions took care of business, removing Payne and last man Liddle in quick succession.

Day one report

Paul Collingwood led from the front as Durham restricted Gloucestershire to 266 for seven before bad light ended play early on the opening day of their Specsavers County Championship match.

Approaching his 41st birthday next month, the former England all-rounder took two wickets with his medium pace in the morning session and then claimed three slip catches at Bristol.

Chris Rushworth and Keaton Jennings weighed in with two wickets apiece as the visitors look for their first win since dropping down to Division Two.

Chris Dent (59), Will Tavare (61), former Durham player Phil Mustard (38) and Jack Taylor (41 not out) all batted well for Gloucestershire, who could feel satisfied with their efforts after visiting captain Collingwood exercised his right to field first without a toss.

The day began with overcast conditions and the home side looked to be facing a stiff test when Cameron Bancroft, who never looked comfortable, was bowled by a delivery that kept low from Rushworth.

But the sun soon broke through and batting became more straightforward. Dent and Tavare put together a second-wicket stand of 83 with few alarms as Gloucestershire reached 97 for one shortly before lunch.

But Collingwood, having had Dent dropped twice in his second over, broke the partnership as he forced the left-hander to feather a catch through to wicketkeeper Stuart Poynter in his third.

Three balls later Collingwood pinned Graeme van Buuren lbw for a duck to leave the hosts 97 for three at the break.

The afternoon session began well for Gloucestershire, with Tavare and George Hankins (27) taking the total to 156 before the latter hung his bat out to a short delivery from Brydon Carse and edged to Collingwood at first slip.

Tavare moved to his half-century off 121 balls and was doing an excellent job anchoring the innings until, with the total on 187, he was caught behind, rocking back to try and leave a ball from Rushworth.

Mustard looked in good nick against his old county and produced some fine strokes. It was a surprise when he pushed forward to Jennings and edged a simple catch to Collingwood.

That was the final ball of Jennings' third over and with the first delivery of his fourth he induced another edge to Collingwood, this time to dismiss Craig Miles for a duck. 

David Payne survived the hat-trick ball.

Only two more overs were possible before the umpires decided conditions had become too murky and called an end to the day's play.