Kirby fire sets up Glos win

LVCC: Gloucestershire 242 & 403 beat Derbyshire 354 & 166 by 134 runs (PTS: Glos 20, Derbys 6)

Steve Kirby hasn't been at his best this season but on the morning of day four at Derby it was his raw determination that sent Gloucestershire to a very good victory.

Kirby produced a snorting short delivery in just the second over of the morning that had Wayne Madsen fending away from his body; he gloved to Abdul-Kadeer Ali at short-leg. Next ball he produced an identical delivery which wrapped Gary Park on the glove - Derbyshire were rattled.

Park edged Lewis behind next over, Greg Smith followed suit and Gloucestershire were rampant. Under such intense pressure the Derbyshire captain, Chris Rogers, couldn't resist trying to drive Kirby and edged to Alex Gidman at first-slip - match over.

The rest of the innings was a formality but Chesney Hughes again showed his promise with a well-made 75 and kept the match going until shortly before tea.

The victory is a very important one for Gloucestershire because they came from behind. Up against a 103-run deficit Gloucestershire took the attack back to their opponent and dominated the last two days of this match. Gloucestershire haven't achieved such a feat for a very long time.

But the search for a century continues and there are further selection headaches to come. Does Chris Taylor slot straight back into the team? Will a spinner be required at New Road? Anthony Ireland for Vikram Banerjee could be a change for Saturday - despite the spinner sending down his best stuff for some time - particularly in a challenging first-innings.

Official report: www.gloscricket.co.uk