'gripping match' is correct and usable in written English.
You can use this phrase to describe a suspenseful or exciting match, such as a sporting event or even a battle between two ideas. For example, you could say "The debate turned into a gripping match of wits as each speaker presented their arguments."
Clearly, Mexico deserved to win the gripping match with its superior attacking ability, speed and persistence.
A gripping match is over and Maria Sharapova is in the French Open final!
It will be a phrase which could be repeated a hundred times today as this gripping match comes to its conclusion.
The Broncos were forced into a mammoth 12 goal-line drop-outs and 385 tackles at AAMI Park but barely cracked in a gripping match.
When Jo-Wilfried Tsonga watches a replay of his gripping match with Novak Djokovic he will wince at his lack of aggressive play on his four match points in the fourth set.
The tournament's first knock-out tie, between Brazil and Chile, was a brilliantly gripping match of enormous quality that was eventually settled by a decidedly ordinary shoot-out; its fourth, between Costa Rica and Greece, was a decidedly ordinary match that was eventually settled by a brilliantly gripping shoot-out of enormous quality.
Obstacle avoided, I go back and forth with the sandpaper for a few seconds at a time — any more and the heat generated sends my fingertips into paroxysms of agony, as if I'm gripping matches by the lighted end.
Gripping matches like this deserve the biggest stage and the unbelievable atmosphere at what is Indian cricket's theatre of dreams shamed the board officials who hadn't scheduled a Test here since December 2007 for a host of petty reasons.
Gripping coverage Great match!
And for a few pages that retreat came with the scenes of the little match girl, who gave me a chill as I imagined her dying on a street corner, her frozen hands gripping spent matches.
Though the weight of the occasion makes this match gripping no matter what, the quality has hardly been sparkling.
