A nightmarish batting collapse left Kent deep in trouble at 33-6 after bowling Gloucestershire out for 252 on day one of their game at Bristol.

Having lost the toss and been asked to field, Kent would have been happy to have dismissed the home side for 252 after a disciplined bowling performance.

However, a diabolical batting display, which included the top four batsmen combining for a total of one run, saw Kent collapse to 33-6 at the close of play on the first day, still trailing by 219 runs.

Kent chipped away to pick up wickets at regular intervals throughout the home side’s innings, as a number of individuals made starts but only wicket-keeper Gareth Roderick passed 50.

However, Kent’s batsmen were absolutely routed by Gloucestershire in the final session, one-by-one making their way back to what would have been by a shellshocked dressing room to leave Kent with a massive task to avoid defeat in the remaining three days.

The day started off positively for Kent, taking four wickets in the morning session, as home captain Michael Klinger (12), Will Tavaré (1), Chris Dent (7) and Alex Gidman (20) all fell before the lunch break.

Hamish Marshall and Gareth Roderick put on a partnership of 75 either side of lunch, before Marshall was bowled by Adam Riley for 44.

Roderick made 59 before being the sixth wicket to fall, and Will Gidman (30), coming in at seven, and Tom Smith (31), coming in at nine, made more than useful contributions.

When the home side were all out for 252 not long after 5pm, Kent would have been hoping that they would be able to see out the 15 overs left in the day without any major mishap.

As it was, the remainder of the evening session could not have gone much worse for the visitors, who collapsed almost immediately, losing four wickets in the first four overs.

Rob Key fell for a duck in the first over to James Fuller, before Will Gidman removed Daniel Bell-Drummond as he also failed to score. Sam Northeast had made one when he too was dismissed by Fuller, before Gidman sent Nash back to the pavilion without scoring as well, leaving Kent’s top order in pieces at 2-4.

Ben Harmison and Darren Stevens attempted to stem the flow of wickets, but both could only make eight, as Stevens went lbw to Fuller and Harmison edged Matt Taylor to Gareth Roderick.

Sam Billings and Adam Riley did finally see a shellshocked Kent through to the close, but even with three days remaining, it would appear that the visitors will have some job on their hands to avoid falling to their second defeat of the season.

 

Stumps, day one: Gloucestershire vs. Kent, LV= County Championship Division Two, the Bristol County Ground, Bristol, 18-21 May 2014:

Kent 33-6 (Fuller 3-23, W Gidman 2-1) trail Gloucestershire 252 all out (Roderick 59, Riley 3-51) by 219 runs

 

Gloucestershire: Klinger*, Dent, Tavaré, Gidman, Marshall, Roderick†, Gidman, Howell, Smith, Fuller, Taylor

Kent: Northeast, Key*, Bell-Drummond, Nash, Harmison, Stevens, Billings†, Ball, Claydon, Riley, Bollinger

Gloucestershire won the toss and elected to bat

Bonus points: Gloucestershire 2, Kent 3

 

Full scorecard available here