Stevens and Tredwell mount Kent comeback against the Tykes

Kent v Yorkshire LV= County Championship Division 1, Day 1
By Mark Pennell
Darren Stevens hit a controlled 92 in a shade under three hours as Kent mounted a fight-back from 131 for five to reach 319 for nine at stumps on the opening day at a chilly St Lawrence.
Stevens marched in with his side four down and deep in trouble, but things worsened instantly when Martin van Jaarsveld“s 107-minute vigil came to a sudden halt when he edged an attempted pull to be caught down the leg-side by keeper Jonathan Bairstow from the very next delivery.
Just before tea, James Hockley (14) walked straight into a trap set by Yorkshire skipper Andrew Gale by pulling a tennis-ball bouncer from Ajmal Shahzad down the throat of Bresnan at deep mid-wicket.
After the interval Stevens combined with James Tredwell to add 89 in 26 overs, the right-hander hitting 12 fours and the only six of the day before falling eight short of a deserved hundred. Fencing slightly away from his body, Stevens edged to second slip to make it 284 for seven.
Tredwell (32) then chopped on against the impressive Bresnan and, to the final ball of the day, Azhar Mahmood“s cameo 21 ended when he was superbly caught at slip by Jacques Rudolph to give Bresnan four for 52.
Shahzad chipped in with three for 61 and Wainwright two for 49, but Yorkshire will be upset to have conceded 38 extras, including 18 byes at the end of a hard-fought opening day.
Batting first after winning the toss Kent had made a reasonably bright start on a sunny, yet chilly morning, but cloud cover soon arrived to make batting that little bit more tricky.
Having helped post 28 for the first wicket skipper Rob Key went for five after an excellent delivery from Huddersfield-born paceman Shahzad. The right-armer got one to lift and hold its line down the Nackington Road slope to graze the outside edge, keeper Bairstow claimed the catch at the second attempt.
Fellow opener Joe Denly played with his accustomed freedom in cracking four fours in his 70-minute stay as he and Geraint Jones added 46 in 19 overs.
The introduction of slow left-arm spinner Wainwright led to two cover driven fours from Jones from his opening two deliveries but Wainwright“s fourth ball, a slow looping delivery, enticed Denly (32) into a loose drive that picked out Joe Sayers at short extra cover to make it 74 for two.
With his score on 24 from 32 balls Jones drove airily at England seamer Bresnan only to see Jacques Rudolph at first slip parry the tough overhead chance for four runs to third man. The let-off counted for nothing, however, when Jones dragged the next ball onto off-stump to go for 28.
Kent made only one change to the team that lost to Nottinghamshire in their opening match of the championship campaign, bringing in off-spinner and batsman James Hockley in the place of seam bowler Phil Edwards.
Kent team: Denly, Key, Jones, van Jaarsveld, Northeast, Stevens, Hockley, Tredwell, Mahmood, Khan, Coles.