Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Battling draw could prove crucial
FIXTURES
Head coach Matt Walker hailed his side’s resilience after they claimed potentially vital championship points against the odds on Sunday night.
Kent staved off the threat of a first defeat of the Specsavers Championship Division 2 season with a gritty effort, batting 106 overs to save their game against Durham at Canterbury.
The relegated side looked odds-on to pick up their first win in the final session, with Kent down to their final two wickets with 17 overs remaining, having given up a first innings deficit of 212 runs.
Skipper Sam Northeast was the main reason the game lasted as long as it did as he compiled gritty knocks of 109 not out in the first innings and then a stoic 72, eventually becoming the eighth man to fall, just over an hour before the scheduled close.
Somehow, Matt Coles (30) and Yasir Shah (39 not out) negotiated a 61-ball spell before Mitch Claydon came in to join Yasir and see his side to the line against his former club with a run-a- ball 21. Walker said: “We were nervous because the odds were against us. “Yasir played beautifully for us and manufactured things nicely to try and get as much as the strike as he could and Mitch did his bit, too. “He’s not renowned for his batting is our Mitch but it was a great effort.” Walker added: “They (Durham) bowled well and kept the pressure up but this shows the fighting spirit we have in the camp now. “We’re showing this more often now. We’ve gritted our teeth and scrapped hard to get something out of the game. “It’s five extra points and who knows how much they’ll be worth to us come the end of the season?” The draw earned second-placed Kent eight points which kept them eight ahead of Worcestershire in third and 16 behind Nottinghamshire, who drew with Gloucestershire in a game which finished on Monday. Kent travel to Worcestershire on Monday. GAMES KENT’S NEXT FIVE (Beckenham)..cc2 July 3 Northants T20 Beckenham) .......... July 9 Essex (
Division 2, County Championship Key: CC2 = Specsavers Blast T20 = Natwest T20 SPECSAVERS COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP
Division 2 KENT v DURHAM At Canterbury Toss Durham
Durham first innings SC Cook lbw b Coles .........................25 KK Jennings b Gidman ......................43 CT Steel b Stevens ............................34 G Clark c Rouse b Stevens ................13 PD Collingwood c Coles b Stevens ..120 RD Pringle c Rouse b Coles ...............71 SW Poynter b Stevens .......................35 MJ Potts c Rouse b Stevens ................0 BJ Mccarthy b Yasir Shah .................24
GT Main not out ..................................0 Extras (b12,lb2, nb12).......................26
Total (all out, 136.1 overs) 420
Fall: 1-79, 2- 81, 3-123, 4-148, 5-289, 6-356, 7-356, 8-375, 9- 448, 10- 448 Bowling: MT Coles 31.1-7-118-3, DI Stevens 35- 8-78- 5, ME Claydon 29- 5-112- 0, WRS Gidman 14-1- 581, Yasir Shah 26- 6- 68-1, JL Denly 1-1- 0- 0 Kent first innings
SR Dickson lbw b Mccarthy ................0 JL Denly c Poynter b Mccarthy ...........4 SA Northeast not out .......................109 JJ Weatherley b Rushworth ................6 WRS Gidman c Pringle b Rushworth....4 AP Rouse c Pringle b Rushworth .........8 DI Stevens c Clark b Main .................14 MT Coles c Jennings b Mccarthy ........2 Yasir Shah c Poynter b Mccarthy.......48 ME Claydon lbw b Mccarthy ...............0 Extras (b4,lb11,nb4)..........................19
Total (all out, 64.3 overs) 236
Fall: 1-6, 2-16, 3-29, 4- 49, 5- 55, 6- 63, 7-116, 8-123, 9-236, 10-236 Bowling: C Rushworth 21-3- 69-3, BJ Mccarthy 19.3-2- 63- 6, MJ Potts 12-3-33- 0, GT Main 7- 0- 47-1, PD Collingwood 5-1- 9- 0.
Durham second innings SC Cook c Rouse b Claydon ..............44 KK Jennings lbw b Stevens .................0 CT Steel c Yasir Shah b Coles............43 G Clark b Yasir Shah .........................83 PD Collingwood not out .....................51 RD Pringle st Rouse b Denly................8 SW Poynter c Gidman b Yasir Shah .....4 MJ Potts not out ...............................14 Extras (b10, lb6, w2, nb6) .................24
Total (for 6 wkts dec, 70 overs) 271 Fall: 1- 0, 2- 68, 3-161, 4-213, 5-230, 6-245 Bowling: MT Coles 13-3- 51-2, DI Stevens 14- 5-32-1, ME Claydon 9-329-1, WRS Gidman 9- 0-22- 0, Yasir Shah 19- 0- 94-2, JL Denly 6- 0-27-1.
Kent second innings DJ Bell-drummond b Mccarthy.........22 SR Dickson c&b Jennings .................46 JL Denly c Collingwood b Main .........45 SA Northeast lbw b Rushworth..........72 JJ Weatherley b Main .......................30 DI Stevens c Poynter b Pringle ............0 WRS Gidman c Poytner b Rushworth...3 AP Rouse lbw b Rushworth ...............23 MT Coles lbw b Potts ........................30 Yasir Shah not out .............................39 ME Claydon not out ...........................21 Extras (b4, lb11, nb2)........................17
Total (for 9 wkts, 106 overs) 343 Fall: 1-37, 2-113, 3-117, 4-180, 5-183, 6-193, 7-237, 8-262, 9-309 Bowling: C Rushworth 25-7- 62-3, BJ Mccarthy 26- 5-105-1, MJ Potts 23- 5-70-1, GT Main 13-2- 58-2, KK Jennings 9-3-18-1, PD Collingwood 4-1-10- 0, RD Pringle 6-1- 5-1 Match drawn Points: Kent 8 points, Durham 12 Umpires: JH Evans & SA Garratt
Division 2 ( Up to and including June 12)
PW Notts ............... 7 4 Kent ................ 6 4 0 Worcestershire 6 4 2 Northants......... 6 4 2 Sussex............. 6 3 3 Glamorgan ....... 6 2 2 Gloucestershire 5 1 2 Derbyshire ....... 6 0 4 Leicestershire .. 6 0 3 Durham* .......... 6 0 4 *denotes points deducted 2 0 0 0 2 2 2 3 2 0 108 0 100 0 93 0 79 0 73 0 45 0 39 0 34 0 -9