Henry claims 7 wickets on debut as Glos win on final day
Monday 16th April 2018
Matt Henry capped a fine debut with three wickets in the second innings but Kent did not have enough runs on the board as Gloucestershire wrapped up a five-wicket Specsavers County Championship win over Kent at The Spitfire Ground.
Resuming on their overnight score of 61 for 1 and in pursuit of a modest victory target of 108, Gloucestershire wobbled before eventually securing victory.
Scorecard and video highlights
After batting marginally better in both innings on a lively, early-season surface, Gloucestershire batted in the brightest conditions of the game as second-wicket partners Benny Howell and Gareth Roderick extended their stand to 75 – the highest of the match – before Kent enjoyed their first breakthrough of day four.
Roderick, on 26, played back to a full off-cutter from Matt Henry to go leg before then, three balls later, Henry struck again by having left-hander James Bracey caught one-handed at third slip by Will Gidman.
Two runs later Jack Taylor became the 17th player of the match to fall to an lbw appeal when he shouldered arms to a Darren Stevens off-cutter that would have demolished middle stump.
With six runs still required, Graeme van Buuren’s attempted back foot shot against Stevens pegged back off stump via a thin inside edge leaving Howell to finish the job off with a straight driven boundary that raised his 90-ball 50 with nine fours.
His was the third half-century of a low-scoring, entertaining game on a blameless pitch with helpful overhead conditions for swing bowling.
Next up, Kent travel to Durham in the Championship on Friday before welcoming Pakistan to The Spitfire Ground on Saturday 28 April for a four-day match to begin their tour.