‘In the circumstances, it was a good draw’ – Vince
Hampshire’s James Vince was happy enough with an LV= Championship draw on ‘lifeless’ final day wicket at Canterbury.
Hosts Kent closed on 259 for four, having batted out 113 overs to avoid defeat after being skittled for 95 in their first innings.
‘The wicket with the sun on it became slow and dead,’ said Vince. ‘The boys stuck at it really well and that little period this morning when we got three fairly quickly kept us up and about.
‘I can’t fault the efforts, the guys have slammed away and as I say the pitch was just so lifeless in the end. Given that we lost four and a bit sessions (to bad weather), it made it difficult to try and force ten wickets in a day.
‘It was a good effort, getting them in a position where we had a lead of 260. There were only two outcomes possible but on that sort of wicket we needed that time we lost to get over the line.
‘I must give credit to the bowlers because we beat the edge a lot today. On a different day we would have got those wickets. If you put in you got a bit out of it and we got a bit out of it all day today.’
Kyle Abbott only managed to bowl seven overs in Kent’s second innings due to a ‘niggle’ in a knee.
‘I think if we’d not bowled well and it was down to a lack of effort or poor execution it would have been a little tougher to take,’ Vince added. ‘But the bowlers bowled really well all day and given the fact we were a bowler down and that (James) Fuller was a bit under the weather this morning, we came out and put in a good shift. Given the circumstances, it was a good draw.’