HEAD coach Dale Benkenstein praised his side for their "fighting spirit" as Gloucestershire salvaged a draw from their rain-affected County Championship clash with Sussex at Bristol on Sunday.

Only 41.2 overs were bowled on a frustrating final day at the Seat Unique Stadium where the visitors might have secured victory, enforcing the follow-on after bowling the hosts out for 248, from an overnight 198 for nine.

Miles Hammond finished unbeaten on 87, from 171 balls, with 12 fours, while Ajeet Singh Dale contributed ten to a crucial last-wicket stand of 61. Nathan McAndrew ended with figures of five for 63 before drizzle and poor light intervened.

Despite the shaky display with the bat, coach Benkenstein was "delighted" with how his team dug deep.

"I’m gradually getting used to the Gloucestershire way. We have a tendency to get ourselves into tight situations and then battle out of them," he said.

"Today I was concerned when we were 41 for four, but then delighted at the fighting spirit shown to come out with a draw.

"In a way, it was a mirror image of our last game against Worcestershire. There we felt robbed by the weather and this time it helped us.

"After having our first home game against Yorkshire washed out, it was good to get onto the field and all credit to our ground staff for making conditions playable.

"It was not the way we like to play our cricket, but you will always get games like that in a season and the important thing is not to lose them.

"I always like to bat first when we win the toss and, with hindsight, perhaps we should have done. But there was still some dampness in the pitch at the start of the game and we weren’t sure how it would play."