Kent hit four 50s to gain lead
Four Kent batsmen passed 50 on the third day of the Specsavers County Championship match against Gloucestershire at Bristol.
Joe Denly and Sam Northeast passed 1,000 runs in the competition with half-centuries in a 106-run stand in an innings bookended by contributions from Daniel Bell-Drummond (58) and Darren Stevens (65*).
By the close on day three, Gloucestershire, who trailed by a single run on first innings, led visitors Kent by 66 runs thanks to an unbeaten opening stand of between Chris Dent and Cameron Bancroft.
The day started brightly for Kent with Daniel Bell-Drummond and Joe Denly adding 44 to their side’s overnight total before the former was caught by Gareth Roderick off the bowling of Liam Norwell for 58.
Thereafter, however, Denly and fourth wicket partner Northeast extinguished the fears of following on. Batting sensibly against Gloucestershire’s all-seam attack, both players not only looked in decent touch, but duly passed 1000 County Championship runs for the summer too.
Eventually, they departed within the space of three balls as Gloucestershire, once again, gave themselves an outside chance. Northeast was bowled by Kieran Noema-Barnett for 66 at 210 for 4 and in the very next over, Denly (57) lobbed up a straightforward catch to Gloucestershire captain Phil Mustard, at mid-off, off the bowling of Matt Taylor.
Teenager Zak Crawley and Sam Billings added 54 for the sixth wicket, in decent time, to get Kent’s innings’ back on track, before the 19-year-old was caught off the bowling of Josh Shaw for 10.
Billings, who enjoyed his time at the Bristol crease in last season’s fixture between the sides, looked in good touch once again, until he was run out for 47, at 283 for 7.
Norwell, who bowled so well from the Pavilion End before lunch, returned after tea from the opposite end and once again looked lively. He beat the outside edge on numerous occasions before sending back Calum Haggett (8) at 339 for 8.
It was left to Darren Stevens (65 not out) to successfully guide Kent to the most slender of first innings’ leads. The veteran struck the ball beautifully, to all four corners, as Gloucestershire failed to consolidate on what had been a very healthy position when Billings departed.
He added 31 for the ninth wicket with Matt Coles and a further 16 for the final wicket with Mitchell Claydon.
Gloucestershire, needing to survive until stumps, did so with relative ease, reaching 67 without loss. Dent (41 not out) and Bancroft (25 not out) suffered precious few scares despite the best efforts of the Kent bowlers in the evening sunshine.