GLOUCESTERSHIRE will have another go to reach the Royal London Cup quarter-finals on Tuesday after defeat to Northamptonshire on Monday.

Steven Crook led an impressive Northamptonshire bowling display to keep his side in the race for a quarter-final place. His 4-35 helped bowl Gloucestershire out for just 215 as Northants got home by four wickets with nine overs to spare.

Gloucestershire head coach Richard Dawson admitted: “We didn’t start the game with a bang. We did well to get our innings back but another mistake cost us. It’s easy to see where we messed up. We weren’t at the races really.

“For the first 10 overs with the ball, we did well and could have taken a couple of wickets but we didn’t nail the first half with the bat."

An opening stand of 80 between Josh Cobb and David Willey got the chase off to a solid start.

There were several moments of fortune, the chief of those being when Cobb was dropped by Chris Dent at second slip on 16.

Cobb took the life to swat David Payne past mid-off and lift Craig Miles over mid-on; another boundary followed through cover point. He went onto a second half-century in the competition from 68 balls but when he tried to find the shortest boundary on the ground in Miles Hammond’s first over, he was picked out in deep mid-wicket.

Cobb was the second wicket in a collapse of 3- 6. Before Cobb’s dismissal, there were two caught and bowled dismissals for off spinner Jack Taylor. First, Ben Duckett went and then Rob Keogh was dismissed for a fourth-ball duck. 

And 111-1 became 170- 6 but Northants captain Alex Wakley was on hand to carefully steer his side home, a straight six off Dent the pick of his strokes in a unbeaten 31.

He and Kyle Coetzer added 47 for the seventh wicket to settle any nerves.

Benny Howell and Gareth Roderick made steady half-centuries but there was precious little else for Gloucestershire who were blown away having won the toss and did well to posed 215 having been 20- 3 and then 140- 7.

Howell and Roderick added 89 for the fourth wicket but, when well set and with Roderick passng 50 in 67 balls, Howell sent his partner back looking for a sharp single and Roderick was run-out for 57.

It was a complete waste with Roderick finding his touch, twice lifting the off spin of Rob Keogh over mid-off - the first time all the way for six - and backing away to strike Azharullah twice through the covers for boundaries to bring up a third half-century in the competition.

Howell build a knock of 80. Howell steered Gloucestershire deeper into their innings to save them from disaster but not until James Fuller arrived at number nine did he find another game partner as 49 were added for the eighth wicket and Gloucestershire were at least able to push above 200.

They had been in danger of being fired out very cheaply. Two wickets in three balls from Olly Stone - a yorker to Will Tavare and a nip-backer to Geraint Jones - did the early damage before Steven Crook carried his form over from a fine weekend against the Australians with four wickets, all of them catches for wicketkeeper Ben Duckett. 

He struck at the start of his first and second spells; initially coming on to dismiss Kieran Neoma-Barnett and then two balls into his third spell, James Fuller went to break the second recovery act.

Jack Taylor also edged behind trying to cut and Craig Miles became Crook’s fourth wicket.