Kent story

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Game Headed for Draw as Batsmen Prevail



Wes Durston became Derbyshire's 3rd century maker of the innings but his side failed to take a wicket as the match headed for a draw.

Mark Davies and Simon Cook kept it tight early on but Durston soon had a half century and both batsmen began to attack when Jamie Dalrymple came on. It proved to be Ross Whiteley's undoing however as he edged behind for 142 going for a big hit. Durston approached a century of his own however, ably supported up to lunch by Dan Redfern.

The punishment continued for Kent after lunch as the hosts raced past 400. Both batsmen brought up their respective milestones before Redfern was bowled by Justin Kemp and Durston was run out by Dalrymple in the next over. Jonathan Clare hit 24 off 26 balls to see the score to 500 before Derbyshire declared 191 runs ahead. Rob Key and Daniel Bell-Drummond made it safely to tea.

Kent already looked like they were playing for a draw after the break, and despite a few plays and misses the openers made it through to an early close, looking extremely grateful when the umpires took them off for bad light. Derbyshire will need early wickets tomorrow to force a win.

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Kent Survive for Draw



Rob Key, Mike Powell and Alex Blake all scored half-centuries as the match slowed to a stop.

Tony Palladino was again Kent's tormentor in the morning session, bowling Daniel Bell-Drummond for 39 and later getting Darren Stevens for an 11 ball duck. Rob Key passed 50 for the 5th time in 4 matches, but soon lost his wicket to Mark Footitt. Dan Redfern was again brought on for Jamie Dalrymple but Dalrymple was ready for him this time and he was ineffective. Derbyshire's lead was just 45 at lunch.

Mike Powell and Dalrymple patiently chipped away at the lead and looked comfortable but Dalrymple was bowled in the 79th over and all of a sudden Kent were 4 down with the scored only just level and facing a new ball. Powell and Alex Blake were up to the challenge however and the match was all but over.

The ball swung after the break and Powell was bowled by Tim Groenewald but the excitement was only brief and although Justin Kemp and Geraint Jones were also removed, Alex Blake held firm with his second 50 of the match to secure the draw.

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Nash Returns for Kent

West Indies batsman Brendan Nash has returned to Kent and will play as their overseas player for the rest of the season, replacing Justin Kemp.

Nash has been in disappointing form so far this season, scoring 4 and 3 in his only match in the recent New Zealand series and before that averaging just 23.5 in his early season games for Kent. He also averaged under 30 in limited overs games.

It is unclear where he will fit back into the team, with Mike Powell cementing Kent's No. 3 spot, and many are speculating he will open the batting with captain Rob Key.

The loss of Kemp will be no great disappointment to Kent as his form had been waning ever since a successful T20 campaign. He has averaged 29.14 with the bat and 47.43 with the ball in Championship matches and 27.5 with the bat and 42.5 with the ball in the Challenge trophy.

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Kent vs Essex



Kent host Essex in the County Championship today.

With Kent now mathematically out of the promotion battle, although realistically they have been out of it a long time, they make 5 changes to their side. West Indian Brendan Nash comes back to replace Daniel Bell-Drummond, Sam Billings replaces Geraint Jones who hasn't made a score of note since the T20 tournament, and in the bowling department Ben Kemp, Adam Riley and debutant Steve Reid come in for Justin Kemp, Matt Coles and Simon Cook.

Essex have no spinner on a spinning pitch but with the relative strength of their side they may not need one. Probably due to the makeup of their bowling attack, they chose to bowl first on winning the toss.

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Chambers 4 Cleans Up Kent



Maurice Chambers took 4 wickets as Kent were bowled out for 207 on day 1 at Canterbury.

The morning session belonged to Mike Powell. By lunch he had scored 77* out of a total of 99-3, with no other batsman having reached double figures. He hit 11 fours and 2 sixes in that. This was after Rob Key had departed in the first over, edging behind off Mike Hills. Brendan Nash soon followed LBW to David Masters and although Darren Stevens stuck around to put on 56 with Powell, he was bowled by Reece Topley for 9.

The lunch break came at a bad time for Powell and he struggled to get going after it, eventually out LBW to Hills. Alex Blake and Sam Billings were both out cheaply to Chambers, leaving Jamie Dalrymple to bat with the tail but he made a slow 30 before becoming Topley's second victim. When Ryan ten Doeschate bowled Ben Kemp, Kent were 161-8.

Kent's tail wagged after tea, with Steve Reid hitting some fantastic shots on debut to reach 24, but Chambers came back to clean them up for 207. Reid was less successful bowling however, his first over going for 10 runs, but not before Kemp had removed England vice-captain Alastair Cook.

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Napier Takes Game Away From Kent



Graham Napier and David Masters put on an unbeaten 78 for the 8th wicket to frustrate Kent after they had hopes of keeping the lead to 100.

Billy Godleman and Ravi Bopara carried on where they left off putting on 103 together, before spin was introduced in the form of youngster Adam Riley. He removed both batsmen, caught behind by Sam Billings, to leave Essex 170-3 at lunch.

Riley's spell continued after lunch and he added Owais Shah's wicket as he edged to Darren Stevens. Then came the partnership that took Essex into the lead, as Ryan ten Doeschate put on 54 with James Foster. Kent pulled it back again just before tea however, as Steve Reid trapped the Dutchman LBW for the first wicket of his career and Foster became Riley's 4th victim.

Mark Davies removed Mike Hills with the new ball, but Napier and Masters saw Essex through to the close, though both played and missed countless times, Napier playing the aggressor while Masters focused on keeping his wicket. A six from Napier from the last over of the day underlined the difficulty Kent will now have securing anything from this match.

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Seamers Put Essex on Brink of Victory



Mike Hills and Maurice Chambers devastated Kent's batting lineup for the second time to ensure victory should be a formality for them in the morning.

Graham Napier became Mark Davies' 50th victim of the season in his first over of the day, and it didn't take long for Davies and Steve Reid to take the final two wickets, dismissing Essex for exactly 400. Kent's openers started confidently but Brendan Nash was beaten by an inswinger from David Masters and was out for 10.

The next session belonged to Kent's batsmen as Rob Key and Mike Powell rebuilt, Key passing 50 for the 6th time in 5 matches in all competitions, finally showing his quality after a poor season up to that point. Powell was much more defensive, scoring just 37 from 130 balls, but it was the innings that was required for Kent as they were still 78 runs behind at tea.

Essex hit back in a big way after the interval however, in the form of 7 wickets for just 56 runs. Hills was the main thorn in Kent's side as he removed Powell, Key and Jamie Dalrymple and although Alex Blake resisted for 23, he was disposed of by Ryan ten Doeschate and Kent remain 9 runs behind over night with just two wickets remaining.

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Essex Wrap Up Victory



It took Essex just 25 balls to wrap up victory on day 4 against Kent, as the tail failed to make them bat again. First David Masters got Mark Davies to edge behind from around the wicket then Mike Hills bowled debutant Steve Reid to give him his 4th wicket and give Essex victory by an innings and 2 runs.

That leaves Kent still hopelessly rooted to the bottom of the table, whilst Essex climb above Glamorgan to third.

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Kent vs Derbyshire



Kent host Derbyshire in the Challenge Trophy, having suffered a heartbreaking collapse in the reverse fixture just last week.

Kent make 4 changes from that match, Sam Billings, Brendan Nash, Steve Reid and Adam Riley coming in for Geraint Jones, Jamie Dalrymple, Matt Coles and Justin Kemp.

Derbyshire keep the same side, who lose the toss and will field first.

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Wainwright Haul Defeats Kent



David Wainwright's best List A figures ensured an easy 5 wicket victory for Derbyshire as they reached the required total with 11 overs to go.

Kent's new opening pairing of captain Rob Key and wicket-keeper Sam Billings started well by putting on 56 in the first 13 overs, but those batsmen and Brendan Nash fell on that score and they never really recovered. Wainwright started the rot getting Billings LBW but it was Tony Palladino who took 2 wickets in 3 balls to remove Key and Nash. Mike Powell and Darren Stevens tried to rebuild but it was slow going as their 64 came at only just over 4 an over on a pitch that wasn't doing much. When Powell got out, it left the lower order to do a lot of quick hitting and although Azhar Mahmood hit 23 off 19 balls no one else stuck around long enough to make much difference to a below par total, Wainwright taking advantage with his first 5-wicket haul in limited overs matches.

Kent needed early wickets if they were to put Derbyshire under any kind of pressure but they didn't get them, Usman Khawaja and Wayne Madsen putting on 65 inside the first 11 overs. It was a run out that brought an end to Madsen, a brilliant direct hit from Key, but still the home side were unable to capitalise as Khawaja put on a further 34 with Wes Durston. They were given some hope when Ben Harmison bowled a good spell to remove the Australian and Michael Stemman but Durston and Ross Whiteley looked assured as they knocked off the remaining runs in double-quick time. A couple more wickets fell but only as the visitors approached their target.

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Warwickshire vs Kent



Warwickshire face Kent in the Challenge Trophy with both teams playing for pride.

Kent give another chance to the team that failed against Derbyshire, with the exception of Mark Davies who is rested after a heavy recent workload. Ben Kemp comes in to an already inexperienced attack.

Rob Key again won the toss and again chose to bat.

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Warwickshire Edge Tight Contest



Warwickshire held on to beat Kent by 2 wickets after nearly collapsing to a shock defeat.

Rob Key has been in fantastic form of late, and showed it again today by starting with a 6 off Boyd Rankin, but he soon lost his opening partner Sam Billings to an inswinger from Keith Barker. Mike Powell was bowled by Rankin early but Key and Brendan Nash played patiently for a partnership of 63 before the skipper edged behind to give England hopeful Chris Woakes his only wicket. That brought in Darren Stevens who upped the tempo slightly, as he hit 5 boundaries in his run-a-ball 39. At 144-3 Kent were sitting pretty, but as has so often happened this season, pride came before a collapse. The remaining 7 wickets fell for 48 runs and only Alex Blake offered any resistance as he hit 3 boundaries off the final over before losing his wicket to the final delivery. The damage was done by Rikki Clarke and Rankin.

Warwickshire's reply began slowly however, and Ben Kemp got his reward for tight bowling when Ian Westwood hit a leg glance straight into the hands of Stevens. Varun Chopra followed LBW soon after, but this only served as a wake-up call to the home side, as Laurie Evans and Jim Troughton then put on a whirlwind 99 runs in just 12 overs. Troughton was the more impressive, his 58 coming off just 38 balls including 8 fours and a maximum off Stevens. When Evans departed Warwickshire needed just 57 to win from 18 overs but then came an unexpected period of dominance for Kent. Ben Harmison having removed Evans, Azhar Mahmood then came back after a shaky first spell to bowl Troughton in a wicket maiden. Harmison got Barker in the next over and after two more maidens from Mahmood, Woakes was also out. It was up to Tim Ambrose to shepherd the tail through and he found a useful ally in Clarke but was then out stumped to Adam Riley. When Peter Duckett was bowled by Steve Reid 5 more were still needed for victory but Clarke stayed calm and got his side over the line.

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Gloucestershire vs Kent



Kent are still without a Championship win this season, and are running out of time to acheive one. Their next attempt will be away to Gloucestershire.

They make just one change to the side that lost to Essex, with Fabian Cowdrey becoming their 3rd debutant this season (the other two, Ben Kemp and Steve Reid, are also in this side) in place of the rested Darren Stevens.

Gloucestershire's bowling has been poor this season and it will be interesting to see if Kent's unpredictable batting lineup will be able to take advantage of that. Rob Key won the toss and his side will bat first.

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Dalrymple Hundred as Kent Attack



Jamie Dalrymple hit his 13th First Class hundred and first of the season as Kent reached 345-4 against Gloucestershire.

Kent got off to a good start as Rob Key and Brendan Nash put on 91 for the first wicket, their highest opening partnership all season. They looked comfortable, targeting Ian Saxelby in particular, until New Zealander James Fuller removed Key's leg stump in his second over. Nash approached his half century towards lunch however.

He did pass 50, for only the 3rd time in 9 matches this season, but presented an easy caught and bowled chance to David Payne in the very next over. Payne somehow dropped it however and Nash punished him to the tune of a further 27 runs before falling to Graeme McCarter. This brought Mike Powell and Dalrymple together and they pummeled a further 61 runs before tea, Dalrymple getting 45 of them off just 54 balls.

Powell fell to Saxelby in the first over after tea and Alex Blake followed after hitting two boundaries. That brought in debutant Fabian Cowdrey and he started his first Class career confidently, with a flurry of classy boundaries. He almost matched Dalrymple blow for blow as the batsmen dominated the remainder of the session. Dalrymple's hundred came in the penultimate over of the day and the youngster was quick to congratulate Kent's most consistent batsmen of the season.

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Kent Chip Away at Gloucestershire



Kent made inroads into Gloucestershire's batting lineup, with each of their 4 bowlers taking a wicket, taking another step towards their first win.

In the morning session, Jamie Dalrymple and Fabian Cowdrey advanced their partnership to 139 as Kent raced towards 5 batting points for the first time this season. Cowdrey brought up 50 in his first innings for Kent before wickets inevitably started to fall as the batsmen pushed for a declaration. James Fuller was the main beneficiary as he removed Dalrymple and Mark Davies.

The innings was wrapped up for 471 but the bad news for Kent was that Steve Reid had his bowling arm fractured by a David Payne bouncer leaving them with just two front line seam bowlers. Davies and Ben Kemp did admirably well before tea, bowling 17 overs between them for just 45 runs with Davies taking the wicket of Chris Dent.

Kemp had his wicket right after tea as Will Gidman fended a bouncer right into the hands of Adam Riley. Hamish Marshall battled well to reach 50 but he soon edged one to Cowdrey off Riley. Dalrymple, the hero with the bat, had the final breakthrough of the day as he trapped youngster Jeff Dickens LBW.