Kent coach Matt Walker would have been a satisfied man at the end of the first day of this friendly, as stand-in captain Daniel Bell-Drummond combined a sound defence with some punishing strokes to complete a deserved century.

Under a cloudless Chelmsford sky, Kent’s openers had to graft through the first hour of play with scoring opportunities at a premium, until Jordan Cox saw his off-stump uprooted by Ben Allison with the score at 28 trying to leave a ball that came back into him. 

Zak Crawley followed 14 runs later, trapped in front by Shane Snater.

At the other end, Bell-Drummond continued his good form, particularly strong against any width on the off-side in the 2nd hour, striking 13 boundaries in reaching 58 by lunch. 

With Jack Leaning for company in a 3rd wicket stand of 138, Bell-Drummond continued punishing anything wide; retiring immediately after slog-sweeping Tom Westley for his 2nd six to complete his century.

Leaning also completed a half-century containing 8 fours, before becoming the 2nd batsman to retire out to allow Crawley and Cox a chance of time in the middle, which they used to the close adding a further 67.

Kent closed day 1 on 270-5 from 85 overs.  Essex will bat on day 2.

Kent Innings
DJ. Bell-Drummond*      retired out             101 (164)
JM Cox                                          b Allison                9 (52)
Z Crawley                lbw b Snater           2 (13)
JA Leaning              retired out             57 (127)
OG Robinson+            lbw b Quinn           13 (21)
Z Crawley                not out                     30 (68)
JM Cox                  not out                    36 (70)
Extras  (b-1, lb-10, w-1, nb-10)                                        22
Total                                                                   270-5

FoW:    1-28 (Cox)      2-42 (Crawley)  3-180 (Bell-Drummond)   4-196 (Robinson) 5-203 (Leaning)

Essex bowling         Ov        M       Runs    Wkts    Wd      Nb
JA Porter                15        5      45        0            2
SJ Cook                  14        7      21       0
BMJ Allison            12        7       15        1
AP Beard                3.5      0      37        0
S Snater                12       4      35        1      1       3
T Westley                2.1      1       8        0
MR Quinn                11        5      20       1
DW Lawrence          7        0      45        0
PI Walter                4       0      14        0
RN ten Doeschate    4        0      19        0

Essex v Kent

ECB 2-Day Friendly

CloudFM County Ground

Monday 29th – Tuesday 30th March 2021

Teams:

Essex – Alastair Cook, Nick Browne, Tom Westley ( c ), Dan Lawrence, Paul Walter, Ryan ten Doeschate, Adam Wheater (w), Feroze Khushi, Aaron Beard, Shane Snater, Ben Allison, Sam Cook, Jamie Porter, Matt Quinn

Kent – Daniel Bell-Drummond ( c ), Zac Crawley, Jordan, Cox, Jack Leaning, Marcus O’Riordan, Ollie Robinson (w), Grant Stewart, Harry Podmore, Matt Milnes, Miguel Cummins, Tim Groenewald

Umpires: Richard Kettleborough & Robert White

Toss uncontested, Kent to bat first