Match Centre

MIDDLESEX V KENT | MATCH REPORT

Match report provided by the ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay.

DAY FOUR

Luke Hollman’s maiden century paved the way for Middlesex to snatch a dramatic victory as they edged past Kent in a see-saw Rothesay County Championship classic at Lord’s.

Bowled out for 129 on the opening day, Kent looked favourites after setting a stiff target of 365 and reducing their hosts to 81 for three overnight – but Hollman’s diligent knock of 103 anchored a remarkable fightback.

The 24-year-old shared key partnerships with Stephen Eskinazi (41) – who retired hurt with a back spasm but returned later – and Jack Davies (59), only for leg-spinner Matt Parkinson to turn the contest back in Kent’s favour, dismissing Hollman and Davies in quick succession.

It needed an unbroken ninth-wicket stand of 52 between Toby Roland-Jones and Zafar Gohar to wrap up a record Middlesex run-chase against Kent, the latter slog-sweeping Parkinson (three for 105) for six to secure victory with just one over remaining.

A morning shower slightly delayed the resumption of Middlesex’s innings before not-out batters Hollman and Eskinazi knuckled down to blunt the visitors’ attack with few causes for alarm.

Hollman overtook his partner by steering Kashif Ali to the point boundary and, even though Parkinson extracted some turn from the Pavilion End, the pair made steady progress during the first hour and half.

However, they were separated when Eskinazi – having turned Parkinson behind square – clutched at his lower back while completing a routine single and grimaced with pain as he sank to the turf at the bowler’s end.

The opener eventually limped back to the dressing-room, with replacement Ryan Higgins doing well to dig out an inswinging yorker from Jamal Richards shortly before another bout of drizzle curtailed the session.

Hollman advanced beyond 50 for the sixth time in his red-ball career after lunch, sweeping and on-driving Parkinson for boundaries and then nudging a single to reach his individual landmark as Middlesex’s target dipped below 200.

But it was the former England leg-spinner who achieved a breakthrough, reacting quickly to deflect Hollman’s straight drive onto the wicket with non-striker Higgins scrambling in vain to make his ground.

The run-out raised Kent spirits, with more close fielders ushered in as Parkinson was joined by Jack Leaning in a spin-only offensive, capturing another wicket as Tawanda Muyeye raced out from slip to snare a looping edge off bat and pad of Ben Geddes.

Kashif returned to share the new ball with George Garrett, who was hoisted over the rope at long leg by Davies but almost accounted for Hollman on the stroke of tea, a clipped half-volley fractionally eluding the diving midwicket fielder.

Hollman kept his cool to complete his ton from 184 balls and that was the signal for Davies to press the accelerator, slamming Garrett for a six and three fours during a single over that cost 29 in all.

A reverse sweep for four off Parkinson took Davies to his half-century and simultaneously lifted Middlesex’s total above 300 – yet the pendulum appeared to swing again as Parkinson picked up two wickets in three balls.

Hollman was first to go, snapped up at short leg before Davies holed out to deep midwicket and, having returned with a runner, Eskinazi could increase his score by just two before Joey Evison pinned him lbw with 51 still required.

Gohar and Roland-Jones (23 not out) gradually whittled those down, while Evison (three for 71) and Parkinson maintained the pressure in tandem as the overs ticked away and shadows began to lengthen.

With five needed and seven balls remaining, Gohar (30 not out) took on Parkinson and dispatched the ball over the short boundary to seal Middlesex’s second win of the season.

DAY THREE

Daniel Bell-Drummond’s second highest score in first-class cricket allowed Kent to take charge of their Rothesay County Championship Division Two clash with Middlesex on day three at Lord’s.

The 31-year-old Kent skipper, took his overnight 103 not out to 223 as the visitors piled up 473 all out.

Jamal Richards (43), Joey Evison (35) and Chris Benjamin (34) all shared half-century stands with the right-hander as the Middlesex bowlers were ground into the dirt, Toby-Roland-Jones taking 3-107 for match figures of 8-140.

Left to better a record fourth innings winning score against Kent harping back more than 100 years to the days of the legendary Patsy Hendren, Middlesex stumbled to 81-3 at stumps, two wickets for Joey Evison.

With the visitors already 117 ahead, Middlesex needed early wickets and they weren’t without opportunities. After edging a four to the vacant third, Bell-Drummond was rapped on the pad by Dane Paterson, moving swiftly leg-side of the wicket as the home side’s pleads for lbw were not upheld.

If that was unlucky Middlesex’s next wound was self-inflicted, Ryan Higgins failing to cling on to Evison’s slash to gully before the batter had added to his overnight score. The drop proved costly as by the time Henry Brookes held a caught and bowled at the second grab, the all-rounder, helped by a towering six back over the head of spinner Zafar Gohar had added 62 with Bell-Drummond.

Any hope the new ball would bring further reward soon evaporated, a Bell-Drummond edge wide of a diving second slip the closest they came to another breakthrough.

That scare survived Bell-Drummond, whose highest first class score of 300 not out came two summers ago against Northamptonshire at Wantage Road, crunched a lovely on-drive to the fence at mid-on before his 21^st four, a cut behind point took him past 150 on the stroke of lunch.

Upon the resumption, Bell-Drummond was becalmed, only adding a single boundary in the afternoon session. Wicketkeeper Benjamin though played positively, four boundaries helping him to 34 out of a stand of 74 before Higgins snuck one between bat and pad to trim the bails.

Debutant Richards came out on a pair and was given a life on four, Ben Geddes failing to cling on the a low catch at second slip.

As with Evison earlier, Richards made Middlesex pay, a thunderous straight drive the pick of his five fours in an entertaining 43 ended when he was harshly adjudged leg before to a ball from Gohar which appeared to strike him outside leg stump.

Bell-Drummond continued on, marshalling the tail, to the point of refusing singles to protect Garrett, even though the lead was beyond 300.

A tickled single to square leg took him to 200, after which he smote three huge sixes before being last man out caught at third.

The target of 365 was exactly 50 more than Middlesex’s previous best successful fourth- innings chase against the men from the Garden of England, a total of 315-5 made at Lord’s in 1921.

The gargantuan task was made more difficult when Sam Robson was bowled by a beauty from Garrett with only nine on the board.

Max Holden flourished briefly in a stand of 53 for the second wicket with the obdurate Stephen Eskinazi, but Evison flattened his off-stump, before having nightwatchman Brookes caught a slip by Crawley to leave the hosts in the mire.

DAY TWO

Kent skipper Daniel Bell-Drummond led his side’s fightback by posting his first red-ball hundred in over a year on the second day of their Rothesay County Championship clash against Middlesex at Lord’s.

Bell-Drummond, who averaged single figures this season going into Kent’s second innings, finished unbeaten on 103 as his side progressed to 226 for four – a lead of 117 – when bad light ended play.

He shared a second-wicket stand of 109 with England’s Zak Crawley, who was dropped at second slip off Dane Paterson on three and recovered to score 68, his third half-century of the season.

Middlesex failed to gather any batting bonus points earlier in the day, with Ryan Higgins top-scoring on 54 as they lost their last six wickets for 61 and were bowled out for 238.

The home side began the day with a 29-run advantage and Higgins soon advanced to his second successive half-century, swishing George Garrett through the vacant second slip region for four.

But, having stretched their overnight partnership to 81, Higgins and Ben Geddes departed within the space of three balls – Joey Evison judging a catch in the deep perfectly to remove Geddes before Garrett castled Higgins with a beauty that hit the top of middle stump.

It needed a robust stand of 42 between Jack Davies and Toby Roland-Jones to extend the hosts’ lead into three figures as Davies pulled Evison for the game’s first six and struck Matt Parkinson for successive boundaries.

However, the leg-spinner tempted Davies to drive again, pouching a return catch that sandwiched Evison’s dismissals of Roland-Jones and Henry Brookes to wrap up Middlesex’s innings.

That left Kent to negotiate five overs before lunch – and Crawley was fortunate to do so, his third delivery looping off a leading edge to fall just short of point before Sam Robson spilled the chance to dismiss him in the next over.

Robson made amends by snapping up Ben Compton’s edge at head height off Roland-Jones, but that was Middlesex’s sole success until mid-afternoon as the clouds dispersed and the visitors capitalised on the improved batting conditions.

Bell-Drummond gradually settled into the groove, pulling a short ball from Brookes to the rope to raise his 50 partnership with Crawley, who adopted a merciless approach towards anything wide from the seamers.

The 27-year-old drove confidently on both sides of the wicket, dispatching a loose delivery from Higgins to the cover fence to reach his third half-century of the campaign from 62 balls as Kent wiped out their first-innings arrears.

Paterson finally achieved the breakthrough, bringing one back down the slope to pin Crawley on his back leg shortly before Bell-Drummond passed 50, hammering a Roland-Jones half-volley to the boundary.

Tawanda Muyeye fell soon after tea, lbw prodding at Higgins and there was a scratchy start for Jack Leaning, caught on the shoulder by a ball from Roland-Jones that reared up just after his inside edge had zipped narrowly over the stumps for four.

Leaning’s innings ended when he skied an attempted pull to mid-on before his successor as Kent captain chalked up a 19th first-class century from 168 balls – albeit in untidy fashion, slicing Paterson just over the slip fielder’s head for four.

That boundary came just in time for Bell-Drummond, with umpires Rob Bailey and Anthony Harris taking the teams off the field three balls later.

DAY ONE

Toby Roland-Jones’s latest five-wicket haul gave Middlesex the edge on a bowler-dominated opening day against Kent at Lord’s.

The evergreen former England seamer took 5-33, the 33^rd time in his career he’d achieved a five-wicket haul as the visitors were skuttled for 129.

Tawanda Muyeye top-scored with 29, but Zak Crawley’s poor run of first-innings scores continued as he made only six

Kent though hit back with ball in hand on an unusually sporty Lord’s pitch, offering both seam and a hint of turn, George Garrett taking 2-39 as the hosts reached 158-4 at stumps with Ryan Higgins 44 not out.

Crawley, named this morning in the squad for the Test against Zimbabwe in less than three weeks, was undone by a beauty from South-African quick Dane Paterson which angled in before leaving him off the pitch, beating his outside edge and pinning him in front.

With his departure Roland-Jones took centre-stage. The Seaxes skipper, who would have played many more than his four tests for England were it not for two stress fractures of the back when at the peak of his powers, demonstrated again, even at 37, his relentless accuracy can harass top quality players into error.

Kent skipper Daniel Bell-Drummond appeared a little skittish before Roland-Jones produced a fullish ball which he nicked to wicketkeeper Jack Davies.

That brought Muyeye in to join Ben Compton, a pair whose record third-wicket stand had won the reverse fixture between the sides three weeks ago.

Any psychological scars were banished when Compton, having grafted for an hour, shouldered arms and was bowled by Higgins.

Muyeye looked at ease, taking heavy toll of some loose deliveries from Henry Brookes, dispatching him to the short boundary three times in two overs.

Roland-Jones though would return to dismiss him on the stroke of lunch, Higgins providing safe hands at gully.

If that was a good catch, his left-handed grab to remove the dangerous Jack Leaning soon after the resumption was sensational and gave Roland-Jones his fourth victim. The five-for was celebrated shortly afterwards courtesy of Chris Benjamin’s nick behind.

Paterson provided good support, though Joey Evison looked unlucky to be adjudged lbw with question marks over both height and line.

Brookes mopped up the tail leaving the as ever self-effacing Roland-Jones to reluctantly accept acclaim for his bowling feats as he reached the pavilion.

With so few to defend and a bowling attack shorn of the likes of Nathan Gilchrist and the man who has often proved Middlesex’s nemesis Grant Stewart, they found a new-ball hero of their own in Garrett.

In his first Championship game of the season, Garrett accounted for both openers, Stephen Eskinazi castled by one which pitched middle and clipped the off bail, while Robson, on his return from Paternity leave was unlucky to be adjudged leg before to one seemingly missing leg.

The in-form Max Holden with over 500 runs so far in the campaign including two centuries at Lord’s also fell cheaply courtesy of Leaning’s super catch at slip.

Luke Hollman, into the side at a career-high No.4 in place of the injured Leus du Plooy off the back of scoring 160 in the 2s last week, counter-attacked, some powerful drives taking him to 42 before Matt Parkinson got one to turn and take the edge.

Higgins and Ben Geddes then further steadied the home ship with an unbeaten fifth-wicket stand of 62 to leave Middlesex in front ahead of day two.

Before play began, the MCC gave Middlesex employee Lorraine Poole the honour or ringing the 5-minute bell to mark the last day of her 25 years of service to the club.