Ferley breaks Durham stand but Benkestein digs deep

Kent v Durham LV= County Championship Division 1, Day 2 in Canterbury
By Mark Pennell
Kent took two wickets in each of the opening two sessions as Durham went in at tea on 231 for four – a deficit of 193 on day two of this keenly contested four-day game at St Lawrence.
Led by South African Test legend Makhaya Ntini, the Kent attack served up very few scoring opportunities in the morning session and made the Durham top-order work for every run, but the hosts lost their grip in the lead up to the tea break allowing Dale Benkenstein to reach an unbeaten 94 and Ben Stokes an attractive run-a-ball 37.
In the mid-session Kent ended a third wicket stand of 118 in 31 overs when left-arm spinner Rob Ferley turned one through the gate of left-hander Michael Di Venuto (67) to make it 144 for three.
Five overs later Amjad Khan softened up Ian Blackwell (17) with a brace of bouncers and then bowled a length ball just outside off enticing the left-hander to attempt a forcing shot that he chopped on to off stump.
In pursuit of Kent“s first day total of 424 all out, Durham had reached 22 before they suffered their first casualty Kyle Coetzer for 12. Playing back to an Ntini off-cutter the former Scotland batsman was adjudged leg before to one that hit the right-hander just above the knee roll of his pad.
There was no doubt over Ntini“s second scalp however, when Scott Borthwick went four runs later with just two to his name. Ntini went around the wicket to change the angle to the left-hander who pushed at one holding its line up the slope and edged to Martin van Jaarsveld at second slip.
Things might have looked even rosier for Kent had they not given a life to Di Venuto just before lunch. The Australian was on 32 when van Jaarsveld dropped a sharp chance down by his left boot at slip off Ferley.