Match Preview: Glamorgan v Kent LV= CC, 11 – 14 Sept

Glamorgan v Kent , LV= County Championship Division Two

Swalec Stadium, Cardiff, 11 – 14 September 2012, 10.30am start

Two successive Championship wins for Kent has enabled Rob Key’s men to take the promotion battle down to the final match of the season. Starting tomorrow, they face Glamorgan knowing that a win could seal a return to division one for the 2013 campaign.

Yorkshire and Derbyshire are the other sides vying for the top two spots in division two with the top of the table looking like this:

Derbyshire: 173 points

Yorkshire: 172 points

Kent: 167 points

In the final round of fixtures Derbyshire travel to the Ageas Bowl to take on Hampshire, who all but fell out of promotion contention last week, and Yorkshire make the trip to Chelmsford to take on Essex – the side that pretty much ended Hampshire’s aspirations last week. A win is a must for Kent and they will be hoping that one or both of the top two slip up to secure a thrilling end to a much more promising season for the county.

A hard-fought win over leaders Derbyshire last week set up the final match shoot-out as Kent stormed to a 222-run victory with just 43 minutes of play left on the final afternoon. An enthralling match, at the St Lawrence Ground, started with the hosts posting 261 all-out on the opening day. Wicketkeeper Geraint Jones – playing his 100th consecutive county championship game – made a crucial 80 as the visitors applied the pressure, with some disciplined bowling. Sam Northeast and Michael Powell both made 37 but failed to capitalise on good starts. Tim Groenewald continued his fine season with figures of 3-63.

In reply, Kent seamer Mark Davies got amongst the wickets – ripping out the visitors’ top order. The former Durham seamer claimed 5-27, from 18 frugal overs , to reduce them to 112-7. However, Derbyshire showed their battling qualities with wicketkeeper Tom Poynton scoring 45 to see them up to exactly 200. A mini-collapse on the second evening followed as Kent lost three quick wickets, for the addition of just one run, to close on 59 for three – a lead of 120.

The collapse didn’t deter Northeast though as he went on to score a season’s best 165 to put the home side firmly in control. The opener showed his true class posting 137 for the fourth wicket with Brendan Nash (62), and then 123 for the fifth with Powell (56 not out) before he fell to the left-arm seam bowling of Ross Whiteley. Kent declared on 342 for eight – setting Derby an improbable victory target of 404 – but it was all about whether the home side could take the ten wickets needed.

After Davies had Wayne Madsen caught at slip on the third evening, Kent needed nine wickets on the final day to keep their promotion aspirations alive. The visitors, understandably, tried to dead-bat everything but the Invicta County took a steady flow of wickets. In the morning session, Matt Coles trapped both Paul Borrington and Wes Durston in front before Darren Stevens ended Usman Khawaja’s 180-ball vigil, just after lunch, with the Australian also falling leg before on 53. An over later Nash ran-out Whiteley with a direct hit from cover-point before Stevens extracted an edge out of Dan Redfern.

The defining moment was probably when Davies ended a twenty over stand between David Wainwright and Poynton with the final ball before tea as the 31 year-old trimmed Wainwright’s off-stump to put Derby in big trouble at 145 for seven at tea. The visitors continued to fight after tea but Kent were able to tough out the final three wickets. Stevens accounted for stubborn tail-enders Tony Palladino and Groenewald before Coles finished things in style – claiming the edge of Mark Turner’s bat, allowing Jones to pouch a superb diving catch to finish his milestone match. The 21 point match haul for Kent has taken the division two promotion battle down to the final round of matches and it promises to be a tense four-days.

Glamorgan have struggled in four-day cricket this season and are bottom of division two, having won just two of their 15 games. Last week they were brushed aside by Yorkshire with the Tykes claiming an eight-wicket win. However, in recent times, the Welshmen have dominated Kent in championship cricket – beating them twice last season and securing a draw in the first fixture at Canterbury, earlier in the summer.

The weather forecast in Wales is largely set fair with the main rain risk lurking on the opening day. There should be enough cricket in the game to force a result and Jimmy Adams will be hoping to crown an impressive first season as coach and seal promotion back to division one.

Ahead of the fixture, seam bowler Mark Davies, who has starred with the ball all season, said: “We are all really looking forward to it. It’s a massive game for us and is what you want as a cricketer.

"We are confident that we can play well and win the game. We will need a bit of luck (with the weather) and we will have to hope that results go our way. We did very well in our last outing, to give us this opportunity. The lads fought really well. This is the first time that I have played a full season. I’m really enjoying it at Kent and I hope we can finish things off with a win and promotion.”

Team news to follow.