Lehmann brands playing surface 'not good enough' as wickets tumble on chaotic day in Bristol

Replying to the home side's first-innings 154, Northants were shot out for 127 inside 52 overs, Taylor returning figures of five for 36 and Miles three for 22 on a day when 57.4 overs were lost to rain and bad light.

Captain Luke Procter top-scored with 38 for the visitors, who suffered a startling collapse in the final session, their last six wickets falling for 42 runs on a hybrid surface still offering assistance aplenty to the bowlers.

There was no let-up in the chaos when Gloucestershire commenced their second innings in the early-evening gloom, Harry Conway removing nightwatchman Will Williams and Ben Charlesworth with successive deliveries and Ben Sanderson sending back a second nightwatchman, Miles, as the home side reached stumps on 21 for three.

Skipper Cameron Bancroft and Ollie Price reached stumps without further loss and Gloucestershire, who lead by 48, will be hoping an improved weather forecast materialises when they resume on Sunday morning.

Attempting to win a four-day game in Bristol for the first time since 2013, Northants resumed on 37 for three and were immediately under pressure as Gloucestershire's seamers exploited a two-paced hybrid pitch and cloudy overhead conditions.

Left armer Taylor struck an early blow, angling a delivery into leg stump and removing Nathan McSweeney lbw for six with the score 39-4 as batting continued to prove a hazardous business.

Procter and Saif Zaid were no doubt relieved when a band of rain moved in soon afterwards, forcing the players off for an hour and causing 16 overs to be lost.

When play resumed beneath lighter skies, the fifth wicket pair displayed commendable patience and discipline, eschewing risk in favour of waiting for the bad ball under the Bristol floodlights.

These two doubled the score to calm east midlands nerves, reaching the lunch interval on 83 for four.

A further 13 deliveries were sent down and two runs added to the score before the rain returned with the afternoon session in its infancy.

Tea was taken at 3.30pm and umpires Hassan Adnan and James Tredwell held an inspection at 4.40pm after ground-staff had removed the covers. When play resumed at 5pm, a further 41 overs had been lost and 28.5 remained to be bowled.

Gloucestershire immediately assumed the upper hand, Miles claiming three wickets in 14 balls from the Ashley Down Road end to fundamentally alter the balance of power.

Having served up dogged defiance for 104 balls, Procter suffered an uncharacteristic rush of blood to the head, pulling a Miles bumper high to Taylor at deep square.

Dropped by Bancroft at second slip off the bowling of Williams on 19 in the previous over, Zaib was not so fortunate when he inexplicably took on another short-pitched delivery from Miles and top-edged to long leg where the reliable Taylor again demonstrated safe hands.

By now running in hard, Miles made further inroads, having George Bartlett caught behind down the leg side as the visitors continued to be undermined by injudicious shot selection.

Miles was replaced by Taylor, who accounted for Lewis McManus and Sanderson with successive deliveries in the 46th over.

McManus aimed a big drive at a Taylor in-swinger and was comprehensively bowled, while Sanderson chipped to mid-off as Northants slumped to 106 for nine.

James Sales and Liam Guthrie added 21 for the last wicket before the latter holed out to mid-wicket as Taylor completed his second five-wicket bag of the season.

Northants reaction

Head coach Darren Lehmann: "It was mayhem and I don't know how to explain it. I've never seen a session quite like that before.

"The wicket is probably not good enough and is similar to the one we had for the abandoned game two years ago.

"A lot of balls are seaming too much and are hard to hit and the bounce is exaggerated at times.

"We played some indifferent shots, but I thought Gloucestershire bowled well. Luke Procter and Saif Zaid will be disappointed with the way they got out, but they'll learn from that experience when they come to bat in the second innings.

"It's a bowler's game so far and both sides are trying everything possible to get a total on the board.

"The first hour will again be very important in the morning and we'll be up for it again. It's pretty even stevens right now and it's hard to say what's going to happen. I have no idea!"

Gloucestershire reaction

Seamer Matt Taylor said: "It was a really tough day. When we did finally get out there, we bowled nicely and there was quite a lot in the wicket.

"We were able to exploit that and, thankfully, got some rewards. It was great to see Craig (Miles) back in the team, hitting the pitch hard and extracting that little extra bit of bounce. I try to do similar things each game - sometimes it comes off and you take wickets, other times you don't.

"There is still plenty in the pitch for the bowlers and the game has been fast-moving.

"We're going to have to front up on Sunday and work really hard, because every run is going to count.

"We'll take it every 10 runs at a time and try to build partnerships. If we can have a few of those, then we'll be in a good position. I think the pitch can get into your head a bit and contribute to people playing poor shots. We will have to beware of that."

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