Match report provided by ECB Reporters Network, supported by Rothesay
DAY FOUR
Kent have beaten Middlesex by 49 runs on a thrilling final day in the Rothesay County Championship at Canterbury.
Matt Milnes took five for 31 as the visitors were dismissed for 181, in the final session.
Middlesex looked heavy favourites when they dismissed Kent for 257: Naavya Sharma took four for 40 and Tom Helm for 72, setting Middlesex a target of 231.
But they lurched to 93 for seven and although Zafar Gohar went down swinging in with an unbeaten 66, he ultimately ran out of partners, with Keith Dudgeon wrapping up the win when he pinned Naavya Sharma lbw with 26 overs remaining.
Kent started day four with a lead of 206, but had added only 24 when Dudgeon was the last man out for 37.
Milnes added only three to his overnight score of eight when he flicked Helm to Ben Geddes at fine leg and Sharma got Matt Parkinson lbw for a duck in the next over.
Dudgeon pulled Sharma for a six over square leg and then got four from a Toby Roland-Jones misfield, but he hit the very next delivery, from Helm, straight to the same fielder.
Milnes ignited Kent’s hopes when he bowled Sam Robson for seven with one that nipped back and sent his off stump flying.
Ben Geddes was on six when he had a major stroke of luck, hitting a Hasan Mahmud delivery that that rolled onto his leg stump without enough force to dislodge the bail, but Milnes then got him lbw for 11.
After Leus du Plooy had displayed a Midas touch on day three, it was Bell-Drummond’s turn to have an inspired day as captain. Dudgeon replaced Milnes at the Nackington Road End and sent two of Max Holden’s stumps flying, bowling him for nine. He then bowled Leus du Plooy, who played on for 13, ending the session with Middlesex on 52 for 4.
Joe Cracknell was on 16 when Milnes found his edge and the ball looped to Sam Northeast at second.
Bell-Drummond then brought Grant Stewart back from the Pavilion End and he got Seb Morgan lbw for 8 with his third ball.
And when he switched Hasan Mahmud to the Nackington Road End, his first ball bowled Caleb Falconer for 12.
Zafar Gohar and Roland Jones produced the biggest partnership of the innings, after Milnes couldn’t quite reel in Roland-Jones when he pulled Hasan to midwicket. They cut the deficit to double figures and had reached 134 for seven at tea.
They’d just completed a 50 stand when Milnes trapped Roland-Jones lbw for 17. Zafar nudged Milnes for a single to reach his half-century, but he then lost Tom Helm, lbw for four, again to Milnes, with 64 still needed.
Zafar battled on, producing an elegant cover drive off Milnes, but with 50 needed Dudgeon returned to the Nackington Road End and got Sharma lbw for a duck.
DAY THREE
A final day showdown looms in the Rothesay County Championship at Canterbury, after Middlesex reduced Kent to 233 for seven at stumps, with Naavya Sharma taking three for 30 following some inspired captaincy by Leus du Plooy.
The hosts lead by 206 with three second innings wickets remaining: their top scorer was Daniel Bell-Drumond with 60.
Earlier Middlesex were all out for 443, a first-innings lead of 27. Max Holden made 182 and put on a stand of 238 with Zafar Gohar, who himself made 95. Keith Dudgeon took all four Middlesex wickets, finishing with four for 77.
Middlesex were 97 in arrears at the start of play, but they wiped that out during the morning session. and Holden quickly moved to his 150 with a single off Grant Stewart.
Dudgeon then put down a chance to get Holden when he edged Hasan Mahmud when he was on 162, but it was he who finally broke the partnership when he had Zafar caught hooking by Ben Compton.
Dugdeon then had Holden caught behind, but by then the deficit was only four and Tom Helm put the visitors in front when he punched Grant Stewart through the covers. Toby Roland-Jones pulled Dudgeon for six over fine leg and one over went for 19 before Tom Helm skied Dudgeon to Bell-Drummond for 11.
The South African would have had two in two balls, but Chris Benjamin then dropped Sharma down the leg side. He did, however wrap up the innings and the session when Roland-Jones was caught at fine leg by the sub, Harry Finch for 28.
Kent’s second innings started slowly and Helm fired Middlesex’s hopes with the early wicket of Compton, who was caught behind for four.
It took the hosts over an hour to reach parity and they were only 13 ahead when Sharma bowled Ben Dawkins, off stump for 11. Sam Northeast had ground his way to 46 when Seb Morgan had him lbw in the final over before tea, leaving Kent on 80 for three.
Bell-Drummond and Ekansh Singh injected some impetus with a stand of 82 in the evening session. The 44th over went for 20, with both batters hitting Zafar for six, but just as it looked as if Kent were getting on top, du Plooy replaced Zafar with Sharma, who bowled Bell-Drummond off stump.
Chris Benjamin was just getting going when Morgan strangled him for 16 and Sharma then cleaned up Grant Stewart for eight after du Plooy switched him to the Nackington Road End.
And there was a final flourish from the Middlesex skipper when he brought on Helm, who got the crucial wicket of Kent’s last recognised batter, Ekansh Singh for 46, with the first ball of his spell.
DAY TWO
Max Holden hit an unbeaten 143 as Middlesex reached 319 for six on day two of their Rothesay County Championship at Canterbury, to trail by 97 at stumps.
Holden’s unbroken 160-run partnership with Zafar Gohar helped Middlesex avoid the follow on and Kent were left to rue a number of missed chances in the field, having reduced the visitors to 159 for six at one stage. Zafar was 62 not out at the close.
Earlier Seb Morgan took career-best figures of five for 104 as Kent were bowled out for 416.
The hosts began the second day on 356 for seven and Tom Helm took the first wicket, getting Matt Milnes caught behind for 18, before Morgan took his fifth when Keith Dudgeon swatted him to Leus du Plooy for 30.
That left Kent 14 short of a fourth bonus point and the chase for that went to the final ball of the 110th over. After four dots Matt Parkinson scrambled to the striker’s end, narrowly avoiding a run out. He then hit the sixth ball of Gohar’s over for six over midwicket, to loud cheers.
Parkinson finally went for a handy 13 when he edged Toby Roland-Jones to Helm, leaving Hasan Mahmud unbeaten on 22 on his home debut.
Milnes was unlucky not to get a wicket in his first over, and he did get Sam Robson lbw for one in his second.
Ben Geddes was his next victim, edging him to Grant Stewart at fourth slip and he nearly got a third before lunch when Stewart couldn’t hand on a one-handed chance from Max Holden.
Middlesex were on 32 for two at lunch and lost du Plooy for 14 in the second over after it.
Hasan Mahmud went round the wicket to the left-hander, who ill-advisedly left his third legitimately delivery and lost his off stump.
Hasan then sent Caleb Falconer’s off stump flying for nine and then produced a bouncer that hit Cracknell appeared to edge into his helmet. Ekansh Singh misjudged the chance at short leg and Cracknell and Holden put together Middlesex’s first serious partnership.
Holden clubbed Parkinson for six to reach 50 and although he was then put down by Dawkins at short leg, Parkinson removed Cracknell at the end of the same over when he had him caught by Dudgeon at first slip.
Morgan fell in near identical fashion for six, leaving Middlesex on 180 for six at tea, but Holden and Zafar swung the momentum completely in the final session.
Holden steered Hasan through long leg for four to reach three figures. Batting looked significantly easier and when a rare chance did arise, when Zafar misjudged Dudgeon, Ekansh hesitated at square leg.
A wide from Parkinson saw Middlesex to a second batting point four overs shortly before stumps.
DAY ONE
Chris Benjamin hit 70 as Kent reached 356 for seven at stumps on day one of their Rothesay County Championship with Middlesex at Canterbury.
Ben Compton and Ben Dawkins also hit half-centuries, making 53 and 50 respectively, as Kent benefited from a series of partnerships.
The hosts didn’t have things all their own way however, and were kept in check by Seb Morgan, who took four for 90, and Tom Helm, who claimed three for 63.
The 174th Canterbury Festival got underway in front of a crowd of 2,628, swelled by over a thousand schoolchildren. They witnessed an opening session for the purists, with Kent choosing to bat and inching to 64 without loss at lunch.
There was plenty of movement, and while little of it troubled the batters, it took 39 minutes before the first boundary, from Dawkins.
Dawkins had nudged his way to 50 soon after the resumption, edging Morgan for four, when he went to the same bowler, caught by Max Holden off a leading edge.
Helm subsequently got both Compton and Daniel Bell-Drummond caught behind, the latter for five after an athletic grab by Joe Cracknell.
He then bowled Sam Northeast for 42 with one that cut back and bent his off stump backwards, putting Middlesex in a far happier mood at tea, when it was 202 for four.
Kent responded with another half-century stand, but this was broken when Morgan had Ekansh Singh caught behind for 17.
Benjamin cut Zafar through backward point to reach his 50 and Grant Stewart survived a dicey opening spell to dump Naavya Sarma for six over midwicket.
Their partnership, worth 64, was broken when Morgan had Benjamin caught behind and Stewart was two shy of his half-century when Morgan bowled him off stump, but Keith Dudgeon and Matt Milnes added some useful runs, steering Kent to a third batting point shortly before stumps.
Kent Men
Middlesex Men
