County Championship contest ends as dramatic tie after gloveless wicketkeeper’s final-ball stunner

Gloucestershire’s dramatic County Championship contest against Glamorgan finished as a tie after a stunning one-handed catch from gloveless wicketkeeper James Bracey on the final delivery ball of the match.

Needing one run from the last ball of day four to complete a record 593-run chase at Cheltenham’s College Ground, Glamorgan No. 11 Jamie McIlroy edged the delivery from Gloucestershire seamer Ajeet Singh Dale through to Bracey, who had removed his right glove in preparation for a potential run out.

However, the wrong-footed wicketkeeper completed the historic tie by snaffling the flying Dukes ball with an outstretched arm, prompting scenes of mayhem at the suburban venue.

It was the first tied County Championship match in six years, with Glamorgan’s 592 all out the highest fourth-innings score in any first-class match since 1949.

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“I’m extremely disappointed to be honest, we should probably have won the game, though as it settles in we’ll probably see it as eight points gained going into the last ball rather than eight lost,” Bracey told BBC Bristol Sport.

“We’ll look at it as a positive and there’s still a long way to go in the campaign so we’re gunning for the top two spots.

“(After the first innings) you wouldn’t have seen it going to the last ball with a chase close to 600, so it’s pretty remarkable on all counts.

“You’d probably say eight points each is very fair.”

Highest fourth-innings team scores in first-class cricket

5-654 – England vs South Africa in Durban, 1939

604 – Maharashtra vs Bombay in Pune, 1949

592 – Glamorgan vs Gloucestershire in Cheltenham, 2024

8-576 – Trinidad vs Barbados in Port of Spain, 1946

572 – New South Wales vs South Australia in Sydney, 1907

Glamorgan, who started the day at 3-222, levelled the scores on the penultimate delivery of the match when Mason Crane (43 not out) clipped Singh Dale through square leg for a single, bringing McIlroy on strike for the last ball.

The Welsh county fell agonisingly short of achieving the highest successful run chase in first-class history, which remains West Zone’s 536 against South Zone in 2010.

Earlier on Wednesday, Glamorgan captain Sam Northeast scored 187 and Australian batter Marnus Labuschagne cracked 119 to put the visitors within touching distance of the record target.

Bracey finished the match with ten catches, equalling Gloucestershire’s first-class record, while Singh Dale claimed 3-124 from his 29 overs.

“The boys are pretty down after getting so close, but what an extraordinary game of cricket, it’s special to be a part of it and a good advert for the County Championship,” Northeast told BBC Sport Wales.

“There were so many unbelievable performances throughout the week, it’s come down to the last over and a great battle though it’s a shame we couldn’t come away with the win. Everyone’s just emotionally exhausted.

“We’d gone so far trying to chase it down that we had to go for it nine wickets down, and it was nearly an incredible win.”