Match Report: Northants vs. Kent
The 2021 season got underway with Kent’s visit to Northamptonshire in the LV= Insurance County Championship.
View Scorecard & In-Play Clips >>>
Day Four Report:
Kent secured fourteen points from their first County Championship match of the season as snow bought an end to Day Four in Northampton.
Northants’ Rob Keogh batted a shade over six hours to make 124, including 12 fours and record his 10th first-class hundred for the county, one more than both current coach David Ripley and former skipper Alex Wakely.
After the morning session, the hosts were finally dismissed for 434, 21 in arrears of Kent’s first innings total of 455. Harry Podmore proved the pick of the visitors’ attack with four for 77.
England man Zak Crawley was left unbeaten on 19 as Kent reached 42-1 in their second innings before the weather closed in.
The combination of a batsman-friendly pitch and 50-odd overs lost to the weather meant the final day was always likely to be about accumulating bonus points and so it proved.
Kent signalled they had settled for a draw by leaving veteran Darren Stevens out of the bowling attack despite the new ball being just two overs old, protecting his 44-year-old’s limbs for more promising match situations.
Adam Rossington showed early intent with two fours in an over off Matt Milnes, the partnership reached 85 before Grant Stewart bowled Rossington for 35 with a beauty which beat the outside of the bat.
Podmore ended Keogh’s vigil caught at midwicket, before claiming the scalps of Gareth Berg and Ben Sanderson with successive balls.
Bell-Drummond’s hope for time in the middle didn’t materialise when Sanderson pinned him in front for the second time in the match. Snow sent the players to an early Tea and returned soon afterwards before a draw was agreed.
View Scorecard & In-Play Clips >>>
Day Three Report:
Ricardo Vasconcelos’ 154 under pressure looked to turn Northamptonshire’s fortunes around on a weather-affected third day of their LV= County Championship clash against Kent.
The Portuguese-South African youngster raced to his sixth first-class hundred, sharing a 142-run partnership with Rob Keogh to lead Northamptonshire’s fightback after the loss of three early wickets. By the day finished early due to bad light and sleet, Northamptonshire had reached 301 for 5.
The hosts had resumed on 91 for one in reply to Kent’s daunting first innings 455. The visitors made two early inroads with the evergreen Darren Stevens bowling his trademark nagging off-stump line.
He enticed Emilio Gay to edge a ball which nibbled away but when he made a rare error in line and strayed onto leg stump, Alex Wakely failed to cash in and instead clipped a half-volley directly to short midwicket.
Thurston was bowled soon after, shouldering arms to a Harry Podmore delivery which seamed back sharply.
With Northamptonshire still 220 runs behind at 135 for four, Vasconcelos looked to put the pressure back on the opposition, running quick singles and building a partnership with Keogh who was largely content to play the support role and dispatch the occasional bad ball for four.
After Tea, Kent turned to spin and having passed 150 with a series of sweeps, Vasconcelos fell to a catch off Jack Leaning for the Yorkshireman’s first first-class wicket for Kent, having faced 209 deliveries and hit 20 boundaries.
Kent will be hoping for quick wickets on Day Four, where the forecast seems to be more favourable for a full day’s play.
View Scorecard & In-Play Clips >>>
Day Two Report:
Darren Stevens starred with an unbeaten century to put Kent in the driving seat on a rain-affected second day of their LV= County Championship clash against Northamptonshire.
Stevens, who will celebrate his 45th birthday later this month, struck 116 not out – his 35th first-class hundred and 35th official century across all formats for Kent – and became the oldest player since 1986 to register three figures in a County Championship fixture.
He shared partnerships of 74 with Harry Podmore and 63 with Miguel Cummins for the last two wickets, shepherding Kent to a first-innings total of 455 at Northampton.
Afternoon rain restricted the Northamptonshire response to just 15.2 overs, although an undefeated 54 by Ricardo Vasconcelos enabled them to make inroads on the deficit, reaching 91 for one at the close.
Northamptonshire’s hopes of wrapping up the visitors’ innings quickly in the morning gained a boost in the fourth over as Tom Taylor removed Matt Milnes, steering him to Alex Wakely at second slip.
However, Podmore proved a capable foil for Stevens, who was largely content to keep picking up singles as his partner slammed a string of boundaries off Ben Sanderson to reach 29.
Off-spinner Rob Keogh finally broke the ninth-wicket stand, tempting Podmore into a swing across the line for Adam Rossington to complete the stumping, but Kent were by no means finished.
With debutant Cummins blocking confidently and rotating the strike, Stevens inched towards his hundred, clipping Nathan Buck over square leg for six before pulling the single that raised the landmark from 120 balls.
There seemed no end to the home side’s frustration when Vasconcelos, at slip, was unable to cling onto a sharp chance from Cummins, but Taylor eventually dismissed the left-hander for 24, blasting out his middle stump.
The players returned after Lunch sporting black armbands and lined up on the outfield for a two-minute silence to mark HRH The Duke of Edinburgh’s passing before Northamptonshire began their reply.
A statement on Kent’s social media pages read: “The Club is saddened to learn of the death of HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
“The Duke of Edinburgh was an Honorary Vice President of Kent Cricket, and a huge advocate for the game.”
Vasconcelos put together a brisk opening partnership of 77 with Ben Curran, the only Northamptonshire casualty so far after chopping Cummins’ third ball onto his stumps for 24 – the West Indian taking his first wicket for Kent.
View Scorecard & In-Play Clips >>>
Day One Report:
A good fightback after the Lunch interval with the bat on Day One of Kent’s Championship opener saw the visitors reach 309/7 at stumps at The County Ground, Northampton.
Northamptonshire captain Adam Rossington won the toss on a cold morning in the midlands, the ground having been covered in snow a day before, and was rewarded with the early wicket of his opposite number Daniel Bell-Drummond, who fell LBW to Ben Sanderson in the seventh over.
The hosts’ bright start was cemented as veteran seamer Gareth Berg made the most of favourable conditions early on to account for England internationals Zak Crawley and Joe Denly in successive overs.
Berg found late movement to entice Crawley to edge one behind and bowled the experienced Denly to reduce Kent to 38 for three. But Kent’s batsmen found runs easier to come by after lunch as conditions began to favour the batsmen.
Cox and Leaning resumed after the interval with a clear intent to attack and showing signs of the form and timing that brought them a record-breaking stand of 423 against Sussex in Canterbury last Summer.
On this occasion, their partnership had reached 89 when Cox fell to a leaping catch on the midwicket boundary by Emilio Gay. Leaning found a new willing partner in Ollie Robinson who quickly found his touch and the pair compiled a 50-run stand by the tea interval.
Leaning, who survived an appeal for LBW on 32, brought up his half century, before a bowling change from Rossington saw Leaning edge behind to give Gay his maiden first-class wicket. His departure meant that Darren Stevens took to the field to begin his 25th first-class season.
Facing Gay, who was born three years after he made his first class debut in 1997, Stevens was able to get a foot into the match and set himself for what could be another emphatic Stevens batting performance – signs were good when he flicked a six off his pads for the first ‘maximum’ of the match.
Robinson departed for a well-made 84 when he pulled Nathan Buck to deep square leg. He had shown guile and class in reaching his half century.
Buck then claimed his third wicket of the day when Grant Stewart left a ball that came back off the pitch and found the top of his off stump.
Kent finished the day on 309/7, picking up three batting bonus points as their first of the 2021 County Championship.
If ‘big hitters’ in Bell-Drummond, Crawley and Denly found the going difficult, Kent supporters will be heartened to see half century scores from a newer breed in Jordan Cox, Jack Leaning and Ollie Robinson.
View Scorecard & In-Play Clips >>>
Support your county in 2021 and be a part of the Club – become a Kent Member today >>>
