Ajeet Singh Dale summoned a blistering career-best performance with the ball to propel Gloucestershire to a eight-wicket win over Sussex Sharks in a one-sided Metro Bank One Day Cup contest at Bristol’s Seat Unique Stadium.
Bowling with real venom, the 24-year-old paceman claimed 4-15 in nine overs to help restrict Sussex to 132-9 in a match reduced by rain to 41 overs-a-side.
Fellow seamer Zaman Akhter proved almost as deadly, returning figures of 3-25, his best in List-A cricket, while Danial Ibrahim top-scored with 30 for the outgunned visitors.
Required to chase 132 to win on the Duckworth/Lewis/Stern Method, Gloucestershire comfortably overhauled their target with 21 overs to spare, courtesy of an authoritative innings of 49 not out from Cameron Bancroft and a whirlwind knock of 46 in 28 balls from Miles Hammond.
Victory means Gloucestershire can still qualify for the knockout stages from Group B, providing they win their remaining games against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge on Friday and Leicestershire at Bristol on August 14.
Sussex remain bottom of the table after suffering a sixth straight defeat in the 50-over competition.
Gloucestershire skipper Jack Taylor won the toss and did not hesitate to insert an inexperienced Sussex batting line-up on a green-tinged pitch beneath cloud cover.
It quickly became evident that his decision was the right one as Singh Dale built up an impressive head of steam from the Ashley Down Road end, undermining the top order with a devastating new-ball spell of 3-11 in seven overs with three maidens.
Henry Rogers pushed at a ball that pitched outside off stump and nicked to Bancroft at second slip, while the in-form Tom Clark sent a thickish edge looping to Hammond at backward point.
Charlie Tear may have survived when Matt Taylor put down a sharp chance off his own bowling but there was no escape when Singh Dale squared him up and Bancroft again demonstrated safe hands in the cordon to reduce Sharks to 19-3 in the eleventh.
Bowling with genuine pace and accuracy, Singh Dale produced his most incisive List-A contribution since his career-best 4-58 in a winning cause against Northants at Cheltenham 12 months ago.
And things scarcely became any easier for the visitors when he made way for Akhter, the 25-year-old seamer bowling with great accuracy in a six-over burst that yielded 2-22.
Frustrated at being tied down, Oli Carter was bowled for 10 in the act of driving, while the hitherto obdurate Zach Lion-Cachet played back to a straight one that hit middle and off and departed for a gritty 57-ball 27 as Sussex lurched to 65-5.
Now in almost complete control, Gloucestershire made further in-roads before the rain arrived, slow left armer Graeme van Buuren persuading Bertie Foreman to cut uppishly to backward point with the score on 94.
Resuming their innings on 101-6 with nine overs fewer in which to retrieve a parlous situation, Sussex lost another wicket almost immediately, Ibrahim miss-timing a pull shot and offering a return catch to Akhter after battling his way to 30 from 57 deliveries.
Singh Dale then had Aristides Kervelas caught at mid-on to improve upon his previous best return and consign the visitors to 106-8 and almost certain underachievement.
Archie Lenham scrambled a valuable 24 before being run out by substitute fielder Joe Phillips in the final over as ball continued to dominate bat in an innings that yielded a modest 11 fours.
Hammond and Bancroft were able to raise boundaries far more readily in a progressive stand of 73 in nine overs that set the tone for the chase.
Karvelas proved expensive with the new ball, conceding 31 in three overs before making way for Sean Hunt, and Gloucestershire’s openers took full advantage of some loose bowling to advance the score to 50 from seven overs.
Demonstrating aggressive intent, Hammond smashed Jack Campbell for three sixes in as many balls on his way to a quick-fire 46, only to blot his copybook by hoisting a delivery from Hunt high to mid-off in pursuit of a sixth four.
There was no appreciable let-up in the scoring rate, Bancroft taking advantage of a free hit to raise an imposing six over mid-wicket at the expense of Ibrahim as the home side kept their foot to the floor.
Hunt had Ollie Price held at backward point but Bancroft proved unmovable in an innings that spanned 53 balls and included 5 fours and a six as Gloucestershire moved level on points with Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire and improved their net run rate into the bargain.
