da brwin： Philip Weston’s application and Andy Bichel’s stroke-play ensuredWorcestershire had the better of the opening day at Bristol
Richard Latham25-May-2001Philip Weston’s application and Andy Bichel’s stroke-play ensuredWorcestershire had the better of the opening day at Bristol.After winning the toss the visitors closed on 298-6, with Bichel unbeaten on71, having lifted the scoring rate by making his runs off just 90 balls,with 11 fours and a six.Until the Australian’s arrival, it had been a day of steady accumulation forWorcestershire on an easy-paced pitch, which offered little encouragement toGloucestershire’s bowlers.James Averis bowled a good ten-over spell of 2-27 with the new ball,removing Anurag Singh and Graeme Hick, who was caught behind down theleg-side after his one scoring shot had brought a boundary to third-man.Weston dug in to compile his best Championship score for two years, sharingstands of 55 with Vikram Solanki (30) and 103 with David Leatherdale, whocontributed 45.The left-handed opener had made 83 off 249 balls, with 10 fours and astraight six off Jeremy Snape, when the drive which had brought most of hisboundaries let him down and offered a slip catch off Jon Lewis, with thetotal on 209.Kadeer Ali fell cheaply having laboured for more than an hour for his fourruns. But Bichel provided the most fluent batting of the day in the finalsession, with Steve Rhodes content to play a supporting role in an unbrokenstand of 46.Gloucestershire stuck to their task, with lanky seamer Mike Cawdronreturning the miserly figures of 1-39 from his 24 overs.