da aviator aposta： Runs were again hard to come by at Lord’s where 13 wickets fell and pacebowlers from Middlesex and Gloucestershire exchanged blows on day two of thisCounty Championship Division Two basement clash
28-Apr-2010
ScorecardShaun Udal rescued his side with a half-century•PA Photos
Runs were again hard to come by at Lord’s where 13 wickets fell and pacebowlers from Middlesex and Gloucestershire exchanged blows on day two of thisCounty Championship Division Two basement clash.Having been dismissed for 203 to trail the visitors by 95 on first innings,Middlesex rallied in the final two sessions of the day to reduce Gloucestershireto 139 for 7 at the mid-point for an overall advantage in the match of 204runs.Resuming on their parlous overnight position of 71 for 4, the Middlesex topmiddle order struggled to cope against the impressive Steve Kirby and GemaalHussain who finished with 4 for 50 and 3 for 50 respectively.Hussain made the first breakthrough of the day having Sam Robson held at thirdslip off a thick edged back-foot force then, with the score on Nelson’s, DawidMalan (25) was lured forward in defence by Jon Lewis only to nick to thekeeper.When all-rounder Gareth Berg (4) steered one to second slip off Kirby to makeit 124 for 7 Middlesex were in real danger of missing out on a batting bonuspoint, but a vital, combative half-century from their skipper Shaun Udal – theonly 50 of the day – enabled his side to edge past 200.Udal, the oldest player in county cricket at 41, rode his luck and might havegone with his score on 13 and 14 when Chris Taylor, at point, then HamishMarshall, off his own bowling, both dropped diving chances.In tandem with John Simpson (42), right-handed Udal flourished in the face of abarrage of short-pitched bowling from the Gloucestershire attack. Udal hittingeight fours and a six off a top-edged hook into The Mound Stand, in a 72-ballhalf-century.A leg-cutter from left-arm seamer James Franklin accounted for Simpson and ittook a stunning, overhead catch on the ropes at deep mid-wicket by Abdul-KadeerAli to finally send Udal packing.Unable to use the heavy roller after close-season changes to the playingregulations, Gloucestershire’s batsmen were taking guard again just after 2.30pmon a pock-marked pitch that, left virtually untouched by the light roller,continued to assist the seamers.For the second time in the game Kadeer Ali (1) was undone by afull-length off-cutter from Iain O’Brien then Jonathan Batty (22) reached for aDanny Evans out-swinger to feather to his opposite number Simpson.Four overs after tea, first innings top-scorer Hamish Marshall fell for ninewhen he edged a steeply lifting ball from Gareth Berg to second slip as theGloucestershire collapse gathered momentum.In a flurry of four more wickets, Chris Dent (42) went to a catch at thewicket, Alex Gidman (28) played across a Tim Murtagh off-cutter to go lbw andthe same bowler jagged one in off the seam to dismiss James Franklin (11) in thesame manner.Berg, who struggled to find his best line on the opening day, produced anothervicious ball that reared up on Steve Snell who fend it off into the hands ofRobson at short leg and go for a first-ball duck and a pair in the match.