Dickson hits century on day 1 at Bristol
Sean Dickson hit his fifth first class century as Kent batted patiently on a placid pitch at Bristol in the Specsavers County Championship.
He shared a century opening stand with Daniel Bell-Drummond (49) and added another 92 with Heino Kuhn (38) as Kent ended day one on 297 for four.
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Joe Denly had little hesitation in opting to bat first on a benign Bristol surface and the top order made the Gloucestershire attack toil.
After scoring 83 in watchful first session, Dickson and Bell-Drummond saw off the new ball to record Kent’s best opening stand of the season and the best Kent opening partnership on this ground.
Bell-Drummond chopped Craig Miles (2/61) to Gloucestershire skipper Chris Dent, who caught low at second slip just after lunch before the same bowler ended Dickson’s defiance after tea.
After reaching his hundred off 206 balls, the opener played more aggressively and was bowled via a thick inside edge.
Looking to accelerate the scoring and push home Kent’s advantage to earn multiple batting bonus points, Kuhn holed out to Bracey at mid-on off the slow left-arm of compatriot Graeme van Buuren.
The new pair Joe Denly and Zak Crawley eased to a half-century stand before former Middlesex man Ryan Higgins struck with the second new ball as Crawley edged to Dent at third slip.
Denly (36*) and Darren Stevens (11*) guided Kent to stumps within four runs of a third batting bonus point in pursuit of a fourth consecutive win in the competition.
Speaking at stumps, Sean Dickson said: “It feels so good to finally spend some time in the middle and get some bat on ball in decent conditions after all the early-season rain.
“It’s a strange wicket. It’s not flat and you cannot get your front foot down and play into the line. It’s slow and low and a bit two-paced and that makes it difficult to decide how to play. We set our sights on batting all day and we’ll certainly take 297-4.
“We’re in a good position to bat for one or two sessions tomorrow, get as many as possible and then put them in tired.”