Gloucestershire win by an innings - eventually

Gloucestershire had to suffer an anxious wait before they secured an innings and 120-run victory over Nottinghamshire in the CricInfo Championship Division Two match at Bristol.

Needing just one wicket to secure their fourth win of the campaign, it looked as Gloucestershire might have to settle for a draw as rain fell steadily throughout the morning.

Umpires Allan Donald and David Constant made a 2pm inspection and, despite a very damp outfield, decided that the pitch was dry enough to make a 2.20pm start.

That was put back 15 minutes by more rain, and there was further frustration for Gloucestershire when the wet weather returned after 3.3 overs from James Averis and Alastair Bressington.

Play did not resume until 4.40pm and Gloucestershire had a maximum of 14.3 overs in which to remove the last wicket pair of Steve Randall and Nadeem Malik.

They needed five of them before Averis dug in a short-pitched delivery to Randall, who popped up a catch to Dominic Hewson at short leg.

It was Gloucestershire's second successive maximum points victory and Mark Alleyne's side must now be regarded as serious promotion challengers.

They miss out on the next round of Championship games before ending their season with a home match against Derbyshire and a trip to leaders Sussex in September.

Nottinghamshire now look destined to finish in the lower half of the table after registering just two wins from 14 games.