Essex are denied a win on a thrilling final day
A COMBINATION of 18-year-old debutant Jaydn Denly and bad weather scuppered Essex’s hopes of recording back-to-back Vitality County Championship wins and extending their lead at the top of the table.
The all-rounder with the famous Kent name stood firm for 128 balls on a rain-interrupted final day at Chelmsford to prevent Essex wrapping up a second win of the season after they had Kent on the ropes at 65-5.
Essex seamer Jamie Porter (4-20) blitzed a hole in the Kent top order before Jaydn Denly joined forces with uncle Joe in a sixth-wicket stand that ate up 16 overs while putting on 51 runs.
Denly junior grew in confidence on both sides of a rain break just as the final hour was called, and finished on 41 not out in Kent’s 164-7.
Essex Head Coach Anthony McGrath said: “I think yesterday was our best day of cricket so far this season. First of all to bowl them out on a pretty flat and benign pitch and getting nine wickets and then batting the way we did was outstanding.
“We wanted to try and bowl at them the whole day today and we didn’t think we would be quite as many ahead as we were last night. “It was just a shame that we didn’t have the opportunity of bowling at them all day today. You never know in April with the English weather, we thought the weather might have passed through by 11am which would have given us the full 96 overs but we lost that first session.
“But look, it’s April and you expect these kinds of things with the weather at this time. Overall, I think we have been superb this week. I’m really proud of the guys, they never give in, they are really resilient and they give everything.”
On day three, Jordan Cox pulverised his former Kent team-mates with a whirlwind century as Essex piled on the runs to set up the thrilling final day.
The 23-year-old right-hander reached his first three-figure score for his new county with a mighty six over square leg, one of six sixes in an unbeaten 116 as Essex raced to 257-4 and a lead of 374 in 40 over in a lengthy evening session.
Earlier Ben Compton had weighed anchor for more than eight and a half hours to help Kent avoid the follow-on by 33 runs. The obdurate left-hander was last man out for 165, his highest score for Kent, eked from 263 balls and spliced sparingly with 18 boundaries.
Daniel Bell-Drummond hit a second successive County Championship century to continue the run-fest on a benign pitch where only two wickets fell on day two.
The Kent captain reached threefigures against Somerset at Canterbury last week, and helped his side fight back with a second ton after suffering three and a half sessions of unremitting toil in the field at Chelmsford.
However, in company with fellow centurion Ben Compton for 71 overs, Bell-Drummond gave Essex a taste of their own medicine as they put on 224 for the second wicket against an unresponsive Kookaburra ball.
Needing 381 to make Essex bat again, Kent had knocked off 245 by the end of day two for the loss of one wicket with Bell-Drummond 134 not out and Compton 100.
Essex’s 530-7 declared was anchored for 73 overs by Matt Critchley’s career-best 151 not out – beating his unbeaten 137 against Northamptonshire in his second appearance for Derbyshire as an 18-year-old back in 2015. His marathon innings encompassed 212 balls and included just five fours, but four sixes.
The opening day on the match saw Dean Elgar produced a masterclass of calm assurance in compiling a first century for Essex while helping to steer his new employers to a dominant position.
The former South African captain hit the 49th three-figure score of his first-class career and ensured Kent had a day of toil under bright April skies. His consummate 120 from 175 balls included 18 boundaries.
And on a run-fest in front of a bumper crowd of 2,226, surpassing anything recorded in the Championship at Chelmsford last season, Matt Critchley chipped in with the eighth century of his career, holding together the middle-order in an unbroken vigil that has already reached 57 overs.
Elgar shared a second century partnership of this embryonic season with fellow newcomer Jordan Cox – this one worth 159 in 35 overs.
He then put on 89 for the fourth wicket with Critchley, who in turn shared stands of 58 with Paul Walter and 80 with Michael Pepper.
When Elgar was finally out after almost four hours at the crease, chipping Matt Parkinson tamely to short square leg, he dropped his bat and kicked the ground in frustration.
However, by the close, Essex had built on the foundations he had laid to reach 421-6 with Critchley still there on 103 from 173 balls.