11:05 PM IST and 6:35 PM Local Time: Warwickshire ends up with a sweet victory over the Gloucestershire. The latter are left with nothing but a slim chance to make it to the next stage.
Arriving for a chase of a majestic 204-run total, the Gloucestershire got off to a flamboyant start featuring D’Arcy Short and Dawid Malan. The duo smacked the opening bowlers including the spinner Dan Mousley. Following a 50-plus partnership for the opening stand, Usman Tariq broke the partnership. He blew hot with the ball and extracted the wickets of their top three. Liam Scott looked to pick up from where the opening stand left, but he fell prey to Tariq’s third scalp, leaving the Bears under pressure.
Subsequently, the hosts failed to recover with the bat. Beau Webster and Mousley exerted pressure with dot balls and allowed mostly strike rotation apart from a few boundaries. Jack Taylor tried to chase the total from one end but he failed to get proper support from the other end. Jordan Thompson and Mousley struck with the wickets of Kamran Dhariwal and James Bracey as the pressure mounted on the visitors at the latter stages of the game. As the game panned to its climax, Gloucestershire failed to chase with Taylor unbridled at 48 and leaving a deficit of 30 runs.
Previously, Warwickshire made a bold call after winning the toss, choosing to bat first on an Edgbaston pitch that has produced plenty of runs this season. Gloucestershire started well, striking early through Marchant de Lange and keeping the scoring in check with Graeme van Buuren's tidy spell in the middle overs. At that stage, Warwickshire looked set for a competitive rather than imposing total. But Beau Webster and Dan Mousley had other ideas. The pair took complete control in the latter half of the innings, putting on a breathtaking 125-run stand. Webster's fluent 78 off 44 balls and Mousley's unbeaten 72 off 36 powered a sensational finish, lifting Warwickshire to 203/5 and leaving Gloucestershire with a daunting chase.