Kent Take Charge

Kent 178 & 320-8 Lancashire 87

Gerry Wolstenholme

The euphoria of the dismissal of Kent relatively cheaply on day one very
quickly evaporated on day two at Blackpool’s Stanley Park as Kent
dismissed Lancashire before lunch on the second morning. Their
dismissal in 32 overs for just 87 meant that they conceded a deficit of 91
runs. Lancashire did strike back by dismissing Dawkins first ball when he
edged Anderson to Singh at slip so they dined at 12-1.
After lunch Northeast was also caught by Singh of Balderston to
leave Kent at 55-2 before Finch and Bell-Drummond put on a fluent 88
for the third wicket. Then, two balls after the return from tea, Moores
took a good catch off Balderston and the latter had gone for 34. First
innings’ hero Livingstone bowled Ekansh Singh for 14 to make it 168-4.
Meanwhile Finch carried on his merry way and was looking well
set to make a century when Finch was 83, Moores took a catch off
Bailey and Kent were 178-5. Thereafter the remainder of the innings was
dominated by Benjamin who moved relatively comfortably to his century
in the final over of the day, finishing on 100 not out with six fours and five
sixes, scoring freely off what looked rather like a thoroughly dispirited
Lancashire attack.
He had support from the tail as Kent closed in a good position at
320-8, a healthy lead of 411. The momentum had very definitely
switched to Kent!

Endgame!

Kent 178 & 332 Lancashire 87 & 283

On the third morning, Kent quickly lost their final two wickets, Benjamin
presenting Harry Singh with his third catch off Anderson for a fine 103
from 85 balls, and Moores taking a catch from Hasan Mahmud, four, off
the bowling of Balderson and with Matt Parkinson 12 not out, Kent were
all out for 332. Hasan Mahmud in his debut for Kent bowled impressively
throughout and finished with match figures of 9-101, including a superb
6-69 in the second innings. There were three wickets each for Anderson
and Balderson for 45 and 65 runs respectably. Lancashire needed an
unlikely 424 for victory, although with almost two days to play it was not
impossible.
Lancashire’s second innings begam cautiously but it was 19-1
when Singh edged a catch off Hasan to Dawkins at slip when he had
made 15. Bohannon who desperately needed a score joined Jennings
and he started well but when he had made 26 he was caught in the
outfield by Northeast off Hasan and it was 58-2. Jennings and Harris

then gave Lancashire followers some hope with a tidy partnership of 104
for the third wicket before Hasan struck again when he had the former
edging through to Benjamin after he had made 61 from 120 balls in
almost two hours and with eight fours; 162-3.
This brought the two Australians Harris and McDermott together
but their partnership was very short-lived; poor calling left the latter
diving for the crease after facing just one ball but Benjamin had the bails
off while he was still in the air and it was suddenly 162-4 … Lancashire
hopes were beginning to fade.
Harris was joined by Livingstone, who began impetuously by
swishing and missing at an attempted drive, before more cautiously the
pair began to eat into the deficit. And they forced Kentish bowling
changes while adding 71 for the fifth wicket. But it became 233-5 when
Hasan returned to the attack and bowled Livingstone for 47 made from
70 balls with eight fours and made in an hour and 20 minutes at the
crease. Two balls later Hasan struck again as Moores was caught
behind by Benjamin, 233-6.
It was all over 50 runs later as Harris did his best to monopolise
the bowling but at the other end, Balderson, four, Bailey, one, Aspinwall,
three boundaries in his 14, and Anderson, two, were all dismissed.
Bertie Foreman on his debut took two of the wickets, and Matt Parkinson
his only wicket while Harris did his utmost to protect them and finished
with 91 not out from 176 balls, with seven fours and made in 13 minutes
over four hours. But ultimately it was all made in vain as Lancashire’s
283 all out spelt defeat by 140 runs. The victory took Kent into third
place in the table with 96 points while Lancashire remained in fifth place
with 78 points.
It was a most disappointing defeat and Lancashire will have to
massively improve if the county is to be fighting for promotion in
September.