Rocky Flintoff's maiden fifty keeps Lancashire afloat

Kamran Dhariwal half-century and two wickets from James Langridge keep Gloucestershire on course for victory

Lancashire 134 (Balderson 38, Williams 6-24) and 120 for 6 (Flintoff 57*) need 128 runs to beat Gloucestershire 212 (Ahmed 51, Balderson 4-44) and 169 (Dhariwal 66, Balderson 4-31)

Kamran Dhariwal and Rocky Flintoff each scored their maiden half-century in first-class cricket but two wickets from a third impressive youngster, James Langridge, kept Gloucestershire on course for their second consecutive Championship victory in the battle of Division Two's bottom two.

Dhariwal's 66 in the second innings of his first-class debut frustrated Lancashire and left them needing to score an unlikely 248, which would be comfortably the highest total of the match, for their first Championship win since April.

Langridge, a tall left-arm fast bowler making his second appearance on loan from Somerset, then put the skids under the Red Rose run chase with his second impressive new-ball spell of the match to reduce them to 25 for 3 at lunch.

Flintoff, the 18-year-old younger son of the former Lancashire and England hero Andrew, responded positively with an unbeaten 57 off 66 balls - but was in danger of running out of partners when rain set in with 128 runs still required.

Lancashire captain James Anderson recognised the need for early wickets when Gloucestershire resumed their second innings on 118 for 8 with a lead of 196, but Dhariwal and Matt Taylor extended their ninth-wicket partnership to 70 - the highest of the match.

Dhariwal, a 21-year-old from Winchester who has made 16 white-ball appearances for Gloucestershire this summer, reached his debut red-ball 50 from 107 balls with his sixth boundary, a thick edge to third man off Anderson. And even after his dismissal, edging the persevering Mitch Stanley to Anderson in the slips, Taylor moved on to a very handy 31.

Langridge then ripped out Matty Hurst for a duck with a classic inswinging yorker, and should have had Harry Singh with his next delivery only for a sharp chance to go down at second slip.

The miss didn't prove costly as Singh edged Will Williams to Myles Hammond at third slip three overs later, and Langridge then claimed the key scalp of Keaton Jennings again caught by Hammond at third slip in the last over before lunch.

Lancashire's struggling Australian import Marcus Harris became a third victim for Hammond, this time low down off the bowling of Taylor, before Arav Shetty was superbly stumped by Gloucestershire captain James Bracey off the bowling of Indian spinner Sai Kishore, leaving the Red Rose wilting on 64 for 5.

But Ben Walkden joined Flintoff in a sixth-wicket stand of 50, during which Flintoff made it to 50 for the first time in his ninth first-class match from 59 balls, flicking a six over long leg and adding eight fours, the majority driven with an uncannily familiar style and power.

The clouds were already closing in when Bracey claimed a second sharp dismissal, this time catching Walkden off Kishore - leaving Gloucestershire only four wickets away from a third Championship win of the season.