Kent under GrahamB (v12.24)

[GrahamB]

We take a break from the Challenge Trophy to play a County Championship match at Yorkshire.

Powell and Proctor come in for Blake and Stevens in the batting department, while Andy Carter replaces Eric Beckett.

[GrahamB]

YORKSHIRE v KENT (County Championship D2)

Key (90) and Naylor (65) put on 101 for the first wicket before Naylor and Cole went to consecutive deliveries from rookie leg spinner Malcolm Wood.
Key then combined with Powell (65) for another century partnership.
However, after both fell in quick succession, wickets steadily fell to see us all out for a disappointing 305.
Cowdrey (43no) tried his best to hold things together, but got no support from the lower order.
Stephen Patterson was the best of the Yorkshire bowlers, taking 4/57.

There was drama to follow though, as Matthew and Murtagh tore through the opposition batting in devastating fashion, taking four wickets each. Carter then chimed in to clean up the tail as Yorkshire were humbled to be dismissed for 112.
Ballance (50) was the only batsman who looked like he could pose problems for us.

Even though we led by 193 runs, we chose not to enforce the follow on. This was because the wicket was already starting to break up and we didn't want to bat fourth. We were wary that the strong Yorkshire batting line up might not fail so badly again and could leave us with an awkward target to get.
By going in to bat again, it was us who would hopefully dictate the terms.

When Sidebottom and Wood cut a swathe through our top order to have us at 84/5, things were looking rather dicey.
Fortunately Powell (62), Cowdrey (64) and Procter (68no) repaired the damage and we were able to declare midway through the final session on Day 3 at 270/8.
Sidebottom impressed for the home side with his 4/58.

Yorkshire had an hour's batting on Day 3 and then the whole final day to score 464 for victory.
The openers, Jaques and Gale, survived through to stumps on Day 3 and this set up an interesting Day 4.
At 222/3, the home fans still harboured hope of a stunning win, but Tredwell started to weave a spell over the batsmen both before and after Carter had success with the second new ball.
Jaques (39), Gale (70), Root (41) and Sayers (45) had held things together at the top, but the middle and lower order batsmen couldn't cope with the deteriorating conditions.
Carter polished off the tail with half an hour still to play.
Yorkshire all out for 299 and victory was ours by 164 runs.
Tredwell finished with 4/37 and Carter 3/58.



It's still going to be tough gaining promotion, but we're doing much better than last season.

[GrahamB]

A Challenge Trophy match now at home against visiting Warwickshire.

Here are the teams:

[GrahamB]

KENT v WARWICKSHIRE (Challenge Trophy 2013)

A much more controlled performance from us this time, as we seemed to adapt back to playing in OD mode.

We restricted the visitors to 197/8, with Matthew (1/20) and Stevens (2/34) being particularly impressive.
Springett (45) and Thomas (52) were the main contributors for Warwickshire.

We paced our chase much more effectively this time and cruised to an easy win in the end.
Key (34), Naylor (45), Cole (67no) and Blake (41no) all played their part to a tee.



Our Challenge Trophy season hangs in the balance.

[GrahamB]

Back to the County Championship and Somerset are in town!

We've kept the same playing eleven that defeated Yorkshire.

[GrahamB]

KENT v SOMERSET (County Championship D2 2013)

Somerset won the toss and chose to bat.
When the two openers, Trescothick (106) and Cattlin (138) put on 207 for the opening partnership, thinks were looking ominous.
However, the only other batsman to threaten was Compton (31), as we did remarkably well to dismiss the visitors for 386.
Mervin Matthew came back with a vengeance, taking 5/80 to rip the middle order to pieces.

A solid team effort with the bat enabled us to eventually declare at 460/7 although we had to recover from an awkward position at 263/5.
Naylor (94), Cole (44), Powell (66), Cowdrey (35), Ambrose (88) and Tredwell (55no) all played their part.
Gemaal Hussain was the spearhead of the Somerset bowling, finishing with a tidy haul of 6/89.

Batting for a second time and 74 runs in arrears, the visitors were quickly in trouble at 7/2, their two century makers from the first innings both gone.
However, Kieswetter (87) was the glue that prevented the innings from becoming unstuck. After he went at 183/6, the innings fell away and Somerset were all out for 233.
Murtagh (4/54) and Tredwell (2/22) finished with the best figures this time.

But unfortunately we didn't have enough time left to chase down the 160 needed for victory.
Naylor went for a duck in the first over, but Key and Cole batted out the remaining time as we ended the match on 74/1.



A nice comeback by us, but we need wins!

[GrahamB]

Back to the OD competition next, with Sussex and Mark Davies visiting us for a Challenge Trophy fixture.

Ben Birch gets a chance to impress, with Naylor being rseted.

[GrahamB]

KENT v SUSSEX (Challenge Trophy 2013)

We were quite simply outclassed in this one.

Key (51), Cole (35) and Procter (51no) helped us struggle through to 202/6 against a very tight Sussex attack.
Mark Davies tied us down with a fine spell of 1/27.

Melvin Matthew took the first three wickets to fall when the visitors replied, and at 78/3 we still had a sniff.
However, Joe Gatting and Ben Brown snatched away those hopes with a well paced partnership of 105.
Matthew ended with 4/41, while Procter produced a tight 1/29.



Looks for sure as though we're out of it now?

[GrahamB]

Off to Gloucestershire for a County Championship match.

Young opening batsman Ben Birch is given another chance, as we need to assess whether or not he is worth signing up next season.
Alex Blake comes in for Mike Powell in the other change to the side drew against Somerset.

[Imager36]

Looks for sure as though we're out of it now?

If you win your last 4, I'd say you still have a chance. You're doing well in the County Championship though!

[GrahamB]

GLOUCESTERSHIRE v KENT (County Championship D2 2013)

We got off to a great start under very cloudy overhead conditions, reducing the home side to 56/4 before lunch.
The fightback after lunch was led by the unlikely Jackson Thompson, a 27 year old who had seven half centuries to his name in his twenty previous matches, but had never cracked the ton.
First Thompson and Gidman (62) added 128 runs for the fifth wicket, then Thompson combined with Coughtrie (10) to add a further 90 for the sixth wicket.
The tail then stuck around long enough for Thompson to smash his way to 190no as Gloucestershire ended up with a useful 364 all out.
Murtagh (4/102) and Matthew (3/66) were again to the forefront of our bowling attack.

In reply, we were in trouble at 149/6 before Alex Blake (107) and Tim Murtagh (46no) got us through to 315 all out.
It was Blake's second first class century and demonstrated that he should have a higher average than he does in the longer form of the game.
Fuller (3/35) and Saxelby (3/87) were the most successful of the Gloucestershire bowlers.

The home side were going along quite nicely at 257/4 and looking to declare at their leisure, when a dramatic collapse occurred.
Andy Carter grabbed four quick wickets before the second new ball was due and then Matthew cleaned out the last batsman once it was taken, as we dismissed Gloucestershire for 271.
Young (65), Gidman (64) and Cockbain (61) were the main contributors with the bat, while Matthew (4/54) and Carter (4/56) were the destroyers with the ball.

We required 306 for victory with two and a half sessions still remaining.
After the early loss of both Key and Cole to a fired up Joseph, young Ben Birch (73) and Procter (52) got us back on track with a partnership of 111 for the third wicket.
However, after that, it became a battle for survival as wickets fell at regular intervals.
With Tredwell (48) still there at 250/8 with just one over remaining, we thought we'd salvaged a draw, but back came Robbie Joseph to claim the last two wickets and secure a dramatic victory for the home side.
Joseph ended up with the fine figures of 5/48.



Despite their victory, Gloucestershire remain rooted to the bottom of the table.

[GrahamB]

News

Australia have gone 2-1 up in the Test series against England, with two left to play.
All three tests have been close affairs.

[GrahamB]

A trip to Glamorgan for the next County Championship match.
Just one change to our playing eleven, with Eric Beckett coming in for Tredwell.
The pitch is not expected to favour spin.
Ben Birch is borderline fit, but has been selected anyway. We really do need to see whether or not his fine debut performances were just a flash in the pan.

[GrahamB]

GLAMORGAN v KENT (County Championship D2 2013)

Batting first, we were in trouble at 73/4, the run out of Key for 0 and a duck for Cowdrey too not helping.
Procter (68) and Blake (86) stopped the rot with a sixth wicket stand of 118, and a lower order 40 from Beckett helped us get through to 310 all out.
Tanvir (3/56) and Allenby (2/50) were the most impressive of the Glamorgan bowlers.

All of the Glamorgan batsmen got starts, but King (49), Fielding (62), Gow (90no) and Wallace (44) were the ones who contributed most.
It was a great relief that after the home side were looking dangerous at 306/5, we recovered to bowl them all out for 371.
Our West Indian paceman, Mervin Matthew, again proved his worth with 5/95, while Beckett picked up a couple of cheap wickets to finish with 2/41.

Going in to bat for a second time, we were an awkward 61 runs in arrears, with the pitch beginning to show uneven bounce.
We lost Birch at 50/1, but then Key (110) and Cole (128no) put us on top with a big partnership of 195.
However, we were never in a position to make a competitive declaration. We pulled out at 312/2, leaving Glamorgan just under a session and a half to try and chase 252 for victory.

Du Toit (56no) and Rees (48) scored 113 for the first wicket as the game meandered to a draw.



We're running out of time to gain promotion, with just four games remaining.

[GrahamB]

The Unicorns are visiting us for a Challenge Trophy match. They came very close to beating us first time round and we were very fortunate to pull off a win.

Opening batsmen Sam Northeast and veteran all-rounder Darren Stevens have picked up injuries and will be unavailable for the rest of the season.
While Northeast hasn't figured in our plans, Stevens has been an integral part of our OD side.

Here are the teams for the return clash: