Kent Vitality CC Div 1 at St Lawrence County Ground, Canterbury Day 3

 

19/09

18/09

MAN-DOWN NOTTS BAFFLINGLY ENFORCE FOLLOW-ON

Kent trail Notts by 123 runs with all their second innings wickets standing at the end of the second day at Canterbury.


In cloudy conditions first thing, Notts obtained their fourth batting point in the opening over. But disappointingly lost their last 4 wickets for seven runs in 27 balls. Notts reached 400 with Schadendorf hitting Garrett (Nackington Road End) to the third man ropes. In the 101st over, Fletcher on 19 was dropped by Leaning at slip off Garrett. Garrett though got his man in his following over bowling Fletcher (22) who shouldered arms to a delivery that moved in, 426 for 7 in the 103rd over. Next over, Lord was lbw to Gilchrist for a duck, 427 for 8. In the 106th over, Farhan (2) lost his off stump to Gilchrist, 431 for 9. Jordan picked up the final wicket with his fourth ball, Schadendorf (29) holing out to deep mid off with Bell-Drummond taking the catch. Notts 433 all out off 106.4 overs, Duffy 2 not out. Gilchrist (4-101) leading the bowling for Kent.


Fletcher (Pavilion End) struck with his fifth delivery having Compton (4) leg before, 5 for 1. Duffy went for nine in his opening over including two no balls and a further 12 in over number two including yet another no ball. Muyeye (10) played a dreadful shot guiding Fletcher straight to Lord on the square leg ropes, 34 for 2 in the 5th over. A boundary for Bell-Drummond off Duffy took Kent to 50 in the 8th over. After a disappointing opening spell Duffy (4 1 29 0) made way for James. Kent 60 for 2 off 13 overs at lunch with Bell-Drummond on 22 and Leaning on 9.


After a cloudy morning, the sun appeared after the interval James was getting the ball to move around in an excellent post lunch spell and got Bell-Drummond (28) to edge one to Schadendorf, 80 for 3 in the 18th over. After an opening spell of 9 2 38 2 Fletcher was replaced by Lord from the Pavilion End. Fletcher subsequently left the field injured and apart from fielding briefly for one over, never reappeared. It is believed he will not bowl again in the match. There was a stoppage when Joe Denly (5) was hit on the helmet from a Lord delivery. He fell next ball edging Lord to Schadendorf, 89 for 4 in the 21st over. Evison was dropped 1 by McCann diving to his left at second slip off James in the 22nd over. This proved a costly error as Evison eventually top scored and played a classy innings. He has been sadly missed by Notts.


A fast short ball from Lord shot up and all a surprised and confused Leaning could do whilst trying to evade it was to edge it through to Schadendorf who took his third catch of the innings, 96 for 5 in the 23rd over. The ball of the day. The Kent 100 came up in the 24th over with Finch getting a two off James. Evison hit Lord for three boundaries in the 25th over which went for 14. Farhan replaced James for the 25th over and snaffled a wicket with his first ball having Finch (6) caught at short leg by Haynes, 119 for 6 in the 26th over. Notts leading by 314 runs at this point, but slowly lost their dominance for the remainder of the Notts as Kent led by Evison fought back well.


In a double bowling change, Duffy replaced Lord from the Pavilion End but still very rusty continued to be wayward, bowling a legside delivery which went for 5 wides in the 31st over. Successive boundaries by Jordan off Duffy took Kent passed 150 in the 33rd over. Lord replaced Duffy for the 35th over and was smashed for six by Evison over mid wicket. Lord was only given one over from the Pavilion End and was replaced by James. Farhan was tying down Jordan (23) and had him lbw in the 42nd over, Kent 182 for 7. A legside two for Evison off James took him to his 50 off 73 balls. Duffy returned for the 47th over. An on driven boundary by Evison off Farhan took Kent passed 200 in the 48th over. The prodding Parkinson (0) lasted 29 balls before being brilliantly caught by McCann low down at short leg, 210 for 8 in the 50th over. Gilchrist (4) lost his off stump to Duffy, 215 for 9 after 51 overs. Tea was thus delayed. Evison hit Farhan for a straight six in the 52nd over. Evison (76 off 106 balls, 8x4, 2x6) finally fell caught on the point ropes by Slater. Kent 225 all out off 55.3 overs. Garrett 0 not out with the outstanding Farhan with figures of 4 for 37. James bowled well, particularly when bowling from Nackington Road End, and deserved more than one wicket. Duffy bowled as one would expect having just come off a plane and having not bowled for months. He did though bowl with pace. Notts bowled far too many no balls (ten) and gave away far too many extras (43).




Tea was taken between the innings. With Fletcher injured, Lord clearly not used to bowling a lot of overs per innings and Duffy ring rusty, it came as a surprise when Notts enforced with Kent with 208 runs behind. They never looked like taking a wicket in the final session as Kent sped to 85 for 0 in 20 overs before bad light stop play with seven overs still to bowl at 1803.


Duffy (Pavilion End) and Lord shared the new ball with Muyeye hitting Lord for three boundaries in the second over. After three overs from the Nackington Road End, Lord was replaced by James. Lord then immediately switched ends with Muyeye hitting him for consecutive fours in the 9th over. In his following over, Muyeye hit Lord for six over mid wicket and next ball cover drove him to the boundary. Farhan came on for the 12th over and once again bowled with control and guile well beyond his 16 years. James returned for the 13th over. Muyeye raced to 50 in 49 balls with a single off James in the 19th over. When bad light stopped play the Zimbabwean stood on 55 and Compton on 22. With the pitch losing its pace it will down to Farhan to lead the victory charge. A role he would performed better in the fourth rather than the third innings


With Lancashire now strong favourites to beat Somerset, Notts cannot afford to lose this game which made the decision to enforce the follow on even more baffling. MAG

17/09

SLATER HEADS NOTTS INTO A COMMANDING POSITION

Notts had a profitable first day after being inserted by Kent on a cool and windy day at the St Lawrence Ground. They closed on a commanding 393 for 6 with Ben Slater leading the way with a magnificent 160 (off 217 balls, 22x4). He received good support from Haseeb Hameed (56 off 142 balls, 7x4) and Jack Haynes (62 off 108 balls, 5x4).

New Zealand debutant Jacob Duffy and Dane Schadendorf came into the Eleven replacing Patterson- White and Verreynne. Schadendorf's previous championship experience amounted to a single day's cricket versus Derbyshire in 2021 after coming into the game after Ben Duckett had received an unexpected England call up due to Covid hitting the England squad. [he did however also keep wicket in the Championship against Leicestershire at Grace Road in 2022, substituting for an injured Tom Moores]

Kent bowled erratically in the opening session failing to take a wicket in helpful bowling conditions with the ball moving in the air and off the pitch. There were numerous instances of both openers playing and missing but Notts rode their luck. Notts raced to 40 for 0 off 7 overs with West Indian right arm paceman Akeem Jordan proving very expensive (3 0 36 0) in his opening spell not helped by a spate of no balls. His third over went for 15 including two boundaries for Slater off successive balls and one for Hameed. Gilchrist replaced Jordan from the Pavilion End. The 50 partnership came up in the 9th over with Slater guiding Garrett to the third man boundary. Next over, Slater on 35 narrowly missed being run out being sent back by Hameed who had played the ball to the legside. In the 11th over, Slater was dropped on 41 by Leaning at second slip off Garrett. An easy chance and it proved to be a very expensive miss.

Evison replaced Garrett for the 13th over. Slater reached a boundary laden 50 off 49 balls (10x4) with two off Evison, aided by some sloppy fielding by Jordan, in the 15th over. Garrett switched ends for the 18th over. Jordan came on from the 19th over from the Nackington End. A cover driven boundary by Hameed off Garrett saw Notts passed 100 in the 20th over. Slater hit two boundaries off Gilchrist in the last over before lunch. Notts 134 for 0 at the interval off 28 overs with Slater on 84 and Hameed on 34. A very satisfying morning for Notts with Slater very much to the fore.

Notts added a further 137 in the middle session for the loss of three wickets. Gilchrist and Garrett were bowling straight after lunch. The Notts 150 came up in 31st over with a single for Slater off Garrett. A cover driven boundary for Slater off Gilchrist took him to his ton off 109 balls (18x4) in the 34th over. Hameed's 50 came off 113 balls via a four through third man off Jordan in the 37th over. Evison returned this time from the Pavilion End for the 38th over. Parkinson came on for the 42nd over. Evison switched ends once more for the 43rd over and in his second over of his new spell got a ball to jag back in and bowl Hameed (56), 196 for 1 in the 45th over. Slater cut a long hop from Parkinson to the boundary to bring up the Notts 200 in the 46th over. Gilchrist returned and with his first delivery of his new spell and had McCann (8) caught at second slip by Leaning, 212 for 2 in the 53rd over. There were suspicions that the ball did not carry to the former Kent skipper. A poor shot from Clarke (18) saw him caught at long leg by Gilchrist off Garrett, 247 for 3 after 58 overs. Notts reached their first batting point with two for Haynes off Jordan in the 59th over. Notts 271 for 3 off 64 overs with Slater on 146 and Haynes on 6.

 

Leaning and Parkinson made it an all spin attack after tea. Slater reached 150 off 201 balls with a single off Leaning in the 67th over. A two for Haynes off Leaning saw Notts to 300 in the 73rd over. Slater (160) was caught low down to his left at slip by Muyeye off Leaning. The vast majority of Slater's runs were on the offside particularly between point and cover. He has 911 championship runs @45.45 this season. Notts 313 for 4 in the 75th over. Haynes reached his 50 off 85 balls with a single off Parkinson in the 84th over. The new ball was taken with Notts 343 for 4 off 84 overs and a three for James off Garrett in the 85th over  took Notts to 350. Jordan replaced Garrett for  the 91st over. Gilchrist picked up Haynes (62) caught at first slip by Muyeye, 373 for 5 in the 92nd over. The seventh championship 50 off the season for Haynes but his top score remains his 77 in his debut innings versus Essex way back in early April. Nightwatchman Fletcher hit Jordan for two fours in the 93rd over. Evison replaced Gilchrist for the 94th over. James (34) was caught at first slip by Muyeye off Jordan, 385 for 6 in the 95th over. The umpires having to confer before confirming the dismissal, the ball just carrying to Muyeye. Schadendorf hit two fours off his opening five deliveries from Jordan. The last over of the day was a maiden bowled by Evison. Notts closing on 393 for 6 off 96 overs with Fletcher on 10 and Schadendorf on 8. After being put in Notts will be well pleased with their progress. Kent looked poor today failing to pitch the ball up often enough, giving away 37 extras (including 30 no balls) and with some average ground fielding. MAG

Hameed (capt), Slater, McCann, Clarke, Haynes, James, Schadendorf (wkt), Lord, Fletcher, Duffy, Ahmed

Compton, Muyeye, Bell-Drummond (capt), Leaning, Joe Denly, Finch (wkt), Evison, Garrett, Gilchrist, Jordan, Parkinson

Acccording to the Pravda Joe Clarke piece, all the players now know how important this game is after some brutally honest conversations.

Kent have produced a digital programme for this fixture.

16/09

Notts squad:

Haseeb Hameed C

Farhan Ahmed

Joe Clarke

Jacob Duffy

Luke Fletcher

Jack Haynes

Brett Hutton

Lyndon James

Sammy King

Rob Lord

Freddie McCann

Liam Patterson-White

Dane Schadendorf

Ben Slater

Kent Squad: 

Daniel Bell-Drummond C

Ben Compton

Jaydn Denley

Joe Denly

Joey Evison

Harry Finch

George Garratt

Nathan Gilchrist

Akeem Jordan

Jack Leaning

Tawanda Mukeye

Matt Parkinson

Jas Singh

I don't think that there's much doubt that this game is a must win for both sides.

It's not the case that it's a must avoid defeat, it's a must win for both Kent and us.

Will Mr Moores' team selections reflect this?

Kent: Kent take on Nottinghamshire in the Vitality County Championship as the final home match at The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence for the 2024 season.

The hosts go into this match knowing that only a win will do in the race for survival in Division One.

General Admission £16