Kent rip through Foxes line-up
Wednesday 23rd May 2012
Kent bossed the opening day against LV= County Championship Division Two strugglers Leicestershire and trail by only 37 runs after an action-packed opening day that saw 12 wickets fall.
Having dismissed the Foxes for 141 inside 54 overs, Kent went in at the close on 104 for two after an unbroken third-wicket partnership between Rob Key and Brendan Nash that has added 68 to date.
Key batted almost three hours for his unbeaten 23, while Nash was positively impish in posting an unbeaten 50 from 74 balls and with seven fours by the close.
Responding to Leicestershire's humble 141, the hosts made a dreadful start when Sam Northeast, fresh from a brace of second-XI centuries and preferred for this game ahead of on-loan Scott Newman, fended Matthew Hoggard's first-ball lifter to slip.
Ben Harmison played attractively for 30 before he too fell to the former England seamer when chopping a short one onto the base of leg stump.
Key and Nash dug in thereafter to boss the final session and leave Leicestershire pondering their ill-disciplined batting of earlier in the day.
Though England Lions paceman Matt Coles had bagged his second five-wicket haul of the championship campaign with five for 41 to take his season's first-class tally to 33, it was old stager Charlie Shreck who ran through Leicestershire's top order with a devastating spell of three for one off 11 balls.
Leicestershire's openers Will Jefferson and Greg Smith both rode their luck in posting 27 for the first wicket.
Jefferson survived a huge appeal for leg before against Mark Davies, while Smith was dropped at third slip off Shreck when on five.
Neither man made the most of their good fortune however, as Jefferson fell lbw to Shreck when half forward then, eight minutes later and without scoring, Jacques du Toit's half-hearted cut brushed the edge to give wicketkeeper Geraint Jones the first of five catches behind the stumps.
Smith then flailed across the line against Shreck to also go leg-before, Josh Cobb fished outside off against Coles to be caught behind, as did the leaden-footed Ramnaresh Sarwan after making 17.
Scottish-raised South African Preston Mommsen also appeared to have his feet set in cement when he forced off the back foot against Stevens to again gift a catch to Jones and make it 66 for six at lunch.
After the break Ned Eckersley (31 not out) and top-scorer Wayne White (38) all but doubled the visitors' score in adding 56 for the seventh wicket until White also nibbled to the keeper against Coles.
No one made double figures thereafter as Kent, in glorious batting conditions, wrapped up the Leicestershire innings by 3.30pm.
Photo: Sarah Ansell SarahCanterbury.com