England’s Zak Crawley showed flashes of elegance during a battling 90 as Kent enjoyed an encouraging opening day against unbeaten Yorkshire in the LV= Insurance County Championship at Emerald Headingley.

Crawley came to the crease after six balls following the early departure of captain Daniel Bell-Drummond.

He faced challenging conditions and a miserly White Rose attack led by Ben Coad, Jordan Thompson, Dom Bess and skipper Steve Patterson, who won the toss.

His 171-ball innings underpinned their 224 for seven from 89.1 overs at close. Patterson was the pick of the home attack with two for 33 from 17 overs alongside three wickets for Coad before rain ended play early.

Former Yorkshire Championship winner Jack Leaning also contributed 47 for Kent.

Bell-Drummond edged the opening over’s final ball from Coad – back in Yorkshire’s team after missing three games with a pectoral injury – to Harry Brook low down at third slip, leaving Kent at four for one.

At that stage, memories of last week’s defeat in two days against Glamorgan were rekindled for the winless Canterbury side.

However, they fought hard thanks to Crawley’s third fifty in 2021 for county and country and Leaning’s first score above 12 since the opening innings of the season, including a pair against Yorkshire in last month’s home defeat. 

The pair shared 79 inside 32 overs either side of lunch for the fourth wicket.

Kent fell to 65 for three shortly before lunch, with Patterson and Thompson getting Jordan Cox and Joe Denly caught at second slip.

Crawley played one particularly memorable on-drive for four off Coad and was strong on both sides of the wicket. 

He also had to navigate the threat of Test team-mate Bess, whose off-spin was introduced 40 minutes before lunch. 

Leaning took 29 balls to score his first run before Crawley reached 50 off 112 balls. But his departure was soft after all the hard work. 

He miscued a drive at Patterson to Joe Root at cover, leaving Kent at 144 for four late in the afternoon.

Leaning’s was also soft. He was caught at slip aiming a drive at Brook’s medium pace two overs before the new ball, leaving Kent at 206 for five and ending a partnership of 62 with Ollie Robinson.The industrious wicketkeeper made 38, including a straight six off Bess, but fell as one of two late wickets for Coad. Darren Stevens also departed.

Yorkshire captain Steve Patterson said: 

“With the amount of bounce, carry and excessive seam movement last week, we felt bowling would be the right choice. As it turned out, the pitch was very different. It was a lot slower and lower. 

“It was hard work. We started well, kept it dry for a long period of time – going at two an over. At 60 for three, we felt if we could get them 90 for five we’d be on top. But, in fairness, Crawley and Jack Leaning played nicely. 

“I said last week I thought 260 on that pitch would be par. And this is better. I’d say more 280 is par score on there.”

Kent batsman Zak Crawley said:

“It’s a shame to lose a few wickets late in the day, but it wasn’t easy to bat on in certain periods. At other times it felt quite flat. There’s enough it in for our bowlers for that to be a decent score so far.

“I’ve felt in decent touch the last few weeks, but the runs haven’t quite been there. So it was nice to spend some time in the middle.“I have high standards for myself, and I’ve definitely been below those so far this year. I feel like I played well, but I was angry when I got out. I didn’t even want a hundred, I wanted a lot more than that.”