Harrison revels in 'proper four-day win' as Northants get home with 13 balls to spare

Northants secured a nail-biting victory with just 13 balls of the match remaining, with Harrison finishing unbeaten on 92 from 100 balls as the County, set 190 to win from 36 overs, got over the line at 191 for three.

James Bracey had earlier scored a superb unbeaten 148 to hold up Northants' victory charge, with the visitors scoring 387 all out in their second innings having been asked to follow on.

After a 90 minute delay for rain at the start of the day, Gloucester dug in to extend their overnight of just 67, and ensure Northants had to work very hard to secure a victory sees them stay second in the table, 18 points behind leaders Durham who they play at Chester-Le-Street on Friday.

"We carried on a good bit of momentum there from the T20s, really," said Harrison. "It was a great win. It was a well-fought, proper four-day win that, on a decent track.

"We fought hard to kind of pull ourselves into a position there to kind of have a chase and they dug in really well.

"Fair play to Gloucestershire, obviously Bracey batted really nicely in a few different partnerships but our bowlers fought really hard through both those innings.

"Obviously, making a team follow-on is never easy to just come back out and bowl them out, really.

"But we fought really well and stuck to our guns, and the seamers, I thought, as a whole unit, bowled really well to give ourselves a chance to go and chase it. A bit of a rain delay in the morning made it a bit touch and go, but it was really good to get over the line."

Northants didn't get a rush on at the start of their chase, instead ticking over and ensuring wickets were in hand before hitting the attack button in the final hour, with Harrison and Saif Zaib (34no) from 31 balls put on an unbroken 100 stand in just 71 balls.

“That was pretty much the plan, really," said Harrison. "It was always within that sort of seven and over range, which was kind of the key.

“Then with Nathan McSweeney out there, we were chatting and staying pretty calm. He was really good for that.

"The experience that he brings into those kind of moments kept us really calm, not feeling like we needed to sort of obviously chase it then.

"We had a full 24 or 25 overs, or whatever it was, at the beginning of that partnership, and it was just sort of calm heads all the way through, strong shots, and we always knew we would get to a point where we would get some gifts from the bowlers, and picked our moments well, and chased it down."

And on his partnership with Zaib, who hit a century in the first innings, Harrison said: "I think Saif coming in there, it was a really good knock to go pretty much from the get-go, and be really positive.

"That’s his natural game to be positive and hit well. So, he's continued on his form that first innings as well. So, it was a beautiful game for him, and nice to finish off the game."

Quotes courtesy of Jeremy Blackmore