New Delhi: Indian offie Ravichandran Ashwin registered his maiden five-wicket haul on English soil, as his side Worcestershire beat Gloucestershire by a massive 189-run margin in their English County Championship match at Worcester today.
Declaring their innings at 295/8, Worcestershire set forth a target of 400 runs for their opponents. Skipper Joe Leach and Ashwin combined to topple down the top-order line up of Gloucestershire. With just 51 runs on the board for the lose of three wickets, the opponents indeed had a Herculean task ahead of them on the final day of the match.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Gareth Roderick did keep the hope alive with his 101-ball 47, but alas, it didn't last long. Leach and Ed Barnard struck early on the fourth day as Gloucestershire slumped five down with just 75 runs on the board. Ashwin later scalped two quick wickets and ergo completed his maiden five-wicket haul on English soil. The offie finished with figures 34-8-68-5.
With the win, Worcestershire crawled up to the second promotion spot in the Specsavers County Championship.
The moment: Ash with his 39th 5-fer in FC cricket & 1st in English soil! Well done Bhai @ashwinravi99 @prithinarayanan #countycricketlive pic.twitter.com/NkzWYuEXkZ
— Srini Mama (@SriniMama16) August 31, 2017
Accounting overall stats, this was his 38th five-for in First-Class Cricket and third outside Aisa, two of them had come against West Indies.
What a debut! Scored 36 runs in the first innings and then finished with bowling figures of 3/94 in 29 overs. In the second innings, he amassed 28 runs with the bat and finished with a fi-fer.
