Yorkshire put to sword by careless Kent

KENT strengthened their grip on the penultimateround Specsavers County Championship clash with Yorkshire at Emerald Headingley.

Both counties may be out of the title running in Division One, but they are in a three-way battle for third place in the table alongside Hampshire, with Yorkshire currently holding that position.

Kent declared their first innings on 482 for eight before the start of day two, then chipped away at the wickets, with the hosts bowled out for 269 shortly before close.

Kent, with a lead of 213, opted not to enforce the follow-on and reached close at two without loss from two overs.

Day-one double centurion Darren Stevens claimed two of them and Matt Milnes five for 87 from 21 overs, although some of the gloss from Kent’s day was taken off by six dropped catches.

Early on each day was the best time to bowl, with Kent 39 for five on day one before recovering and Yorkshire 36 for three. Matt Fisher top-scored for them with a career-best 47 not out.

Stevens did the initial damage to back up his career-best 237.

He struck twice in five balls in the eighth over, getting Adam Lyth caught low down at second slip by Francois Du Plessis before trapping Gary Ballance lbw one ball after he had been dropped at third slip.

That left Yorkshire at 17 for two before teenage debutant Matty Revis, dropped on nought and eight, edged Milnes’s behind for nine.

Lyth and Ballance also fell for single-figure scores.

Kent’s six dropped catches were all in the morning and afternoon, with wicket-keeper Ollie Robinson and slip fielders Crawley and Ollie Rayner all missing two chances.

While day one was helter-skelter, day two was hard-fought, with both sides working hard for reward. Either side of lunch, Tom KohlerCadmore and Harry Brook, who made 36 apiece, shared 59 for the fourth wicket before falling inside five overs as the hosts went from 95 for three in the 33rd over to 106 for five after 37.

Both men fell to Milnes, with Brook first to go lbw to one which kept low. Kohler-Cadmore then lost his off stump.

Kent struck again in the 47th over, this time through Stevens’s new-ball partner Harry Podmore, who had Jonny Tattersall (27) caught at third slip by Crawley as the score fell to 141 for six.

But batting recovery has been a theme of this fixture, and seventhwicket pair Tim Bresnan and Fisher continued the trend either side of tea to take their side to the cusp of 200 and a first batting bonus point.

They calmly chalked up a half-century stand inside the opening 10 minutes of the evening session, only for it to end on 53 when Milnes uprooted Bresnan’s off stump for 39 – 194 for six in the 69th.

Podmore struck again in the first over with the new ball as he bowled Steve Patterson, leaving the score at 220 for eight after 81.

Milnes then claimed his fifth when Duanne Olivier was trapped lbw. Patel was bowled for 20, sweeping at Rayner’s off-spin to wrap up the Yorkshire innings.

Meanwhile, Richard Levi and Adam Rossington helped Northamptonshire build a strong lead over Durham on the second day at Wantage Road.

The pair made halfcenturies as the home side closed their second innings 235 for six, leading by 321.

Leading by 86 after dismissing Durham for 131 by lunch, Northamptonshire knew their second innings was crucial to their chances of being promoted and, at 65 for four, a lead of 151, the match was in the balance.