Gloucestershire dressmaker Matt Taylor impressed in his first appearance of the season against Derbyshire in the County Championship game at Derby.
The 28-year-old exploited useful conditions to take it 2-18 from 10 overs as the hosts struggled on another badly weathered day.
No play was possible before 2.00pm BST due to a wet outfield and – after Gloucestershire won the draw – Derbyshire went 130-5 before poor light ended play early at 5.20pm TSB.
Flyhalf Harry Came held the innings with an unbeaten 59 on 111 balls and Ajeet Dale backed Taylor with 2-29 on 11 overs.
Gloucestershire’s decision to play first came as no surprise given the cloudy conditions and Marchant De Lange almost struck with the second ball.
Came in at the third slide where Miles Hammond couldn’t hold on to a tough chance and the ball fled to the third-man boundary.
Initially came to score freely but with the floodlights on and the bowlers moving across a grassy pitch, batting was not easy and Gloucestershire did not have to wait long for the breakthrough.
Haider Ali played on a full-length ball from Tom Price and Came survived another chance when he drove Taylor to the ravine but Marcus Harris was unable to take what would have been a good hold over her head.
Taylor and Dale played with precision and the latter was rewarded when he moved a late one to knock out Brooke Guest’s off and middle stumps in the 16th.
Both were playing batters in tight conditions and Dale got Wayne Madsen’s big wicket in his next over with enough late movement to take the lead and Ben Charlesworth took a good low grip on the first slip.
The pressure was eased by De Lange straying too often on the pads and Came and Leus Du Plooy took the opportunity to avoid further setbacks before tea.
Came missed a short of his fourth first-class fifty, which he completed in the second part of the evening session, but by then he had lost his skipper at the second ball after the rerun.
Taylor had been relentless in his line just outside the stump and Du Plooy was trained to push on the left arm and was caught behind to break a 55-for-89 stand.
It brought Mitch Wagstaff on his first class debut and the 19-year-old struggled before becoming another victim of Taylor’s precision.
He played and missed several times before the 27th ball he faced swept away to take the lead over James Bracey.
By then the light had worsened and three overs later the umpires ruled out the players with just under 25 overs to go.
Report provided by the ECB Reporters Network.
