Russell punishes promotion hopefuls

The former England wicketkeeper Jack Russell and Roger Sillence hit centuries to put Gloucestershire in a strong position in their County Championship Second Division match against the promotion hopefuls Derbyshire at Bristol yesterday.

With Russell hitting 119 not out and Sillence his maiden first-class century, Gloucestershire amassed 577 for 9 declared in their second innings, setting Derbyshire an improbable victory target of 583 in little over four-and-a-half sessions.

To their credit, with Michael Di Venuto to the fore, Derbyshire made significant inroads by reaching 155 for 1 in just 29 overs before bad light forced an early close. Di Venuto made an unbeaten 92 off just 97 balls, but Derbyshire will resume on the final day still needing another 428 to win.

Play had resumed with Gloucestershire on 290 for 5 – a lead of 295 – with Matt Windows unbeaten on 143 and Russell on 37. Their object was to score quick runs to set up a daunting victory target for Derbyshire but they suffered a double setback by losing Windows and Ian Fisher in the space of six balls.

Windows fell to Mohammad Ali after adding only a single to his overnight score. Fisher departed for a five-ball duck after fatally playing back to a good-length ball from Graeme Welch and edging a catch to the wicketkeeper Luke Sutton.

But with Russell and Sillence playing a cavalier innings, things went rapidly downhill for Derbyshire as the pair accelerated the score.

Sillence hit a superb 111-ball century, including 17 fours and a six, but was dismissed two balls later after an eighth-wicket stand worth 161. Going for a big hit off Ali, he pulled a short ball to the safe hands of Chris Bassano at deep square leg.

The runs continued to flow after Jon Lewis joined Russell. Lewis threw the bat to good effect and hit 57 off just 37 balls, including 10 fours and a six, before he was caught by Kevin Dean off Lian Wharton.

Mike Smith chipped in with an unbeaten 18 and Russell advanced his score to 119 before Gloucestershire declared.