Kent avoided the follow-on but found themselves batted out of the game on day two of their Championship encounter against Gloucestershire at Bristol.

Having been in the unenviable position of 33-6 overnight, a decent partnership between Sam Billings and Adam Ball helped them to avoid the follow-on on the second morning.

Some solid and sensible batting from the home side, however, gave Gloucestershire a lead of 351 by the close of play with seven wickets still in hand, as Alex Gidman and Hamish Marshall both scored half-centuries and put on a partnership together of 135.

With two days remaining, one would expect Gloucestershire to declare their second innings at some point tomorrow afternoon as they look to give themselves the best chance of bowling Kent out for a second time to pick up their first win of the season.

After collapsing to 33-6 last night, already trailing Gloucestershire by 219 and requiring a further 70 runs just to avoid the follow-on, Kent unfortunately picked up where they left off; Adam Riley edging the third ball of the day behind off Will Gidman.

Coming together at the crease on 33-7, 22-year old Sam Billings and 21-year-old Adam Ball showed maturity beyond their years and experience to add a more than useful 68 for the eighth wicket. It was by some stretch Kent’s biggest partnership of their innings, and saw them to two runs short of the follow-on target before Ball, on 39, was bowled by Gidman.

The partnership showed good application, as the two men with less than 30 First Class matches between them stuck around and played sensibly, while dismissing the bad balls wherever possible.

Following Ball’s departure, Billings was joined in the middle by Mitch Claydon, and the pair saw Kent pass the follow on target of 103. The wicket-keeper would fall short of what would have been a deserved half-century however, given lbw on 42 whilst attempting to sweep slow left-armer Tom Smith around five minutes before the lunch break, by which point Kent had reached 113-9.

Doug Bollinger was the last man in and also the last man out, as he edged the final ball of the session behind to leave Kent 114 all out, still trailing their hosts by 138 but having staged something of a fightback, considering their position in the day’s opening over.

Kent made an early breakthrough in the afternoon session as Gloucestershire began their second innings; Mitch Claydon trapping fellow Australian Michael Klinger for 4 in the second over.

Two further batsmen would fall in the session, both to Darren Stevens, who bowled an excellent 10-over spell, taking 2-33. He removed Chris Dent (8) with his very first delivery, bowling the opener with a vicious delivery which cut back in to crash into the stumps.

Will Tavaré, nephew of former Kent batsman Chris, had come in at three, and was looking set on 27 when he was hit on the pads by a straight one from the Kent all-rounder, leaving Gloucestershire 58-3.

Alex Gidman and Hamish Marshall were able to see their side to tea without further loss, by which stage the lead had stretched to 246, and Gidman went to his fifty in the first over of the final session, bringing it up from 77 balls with seven boundaries.

Having added 135 together, with Marshall also having passed fifty, before Stevens picked up his third wicket when Gidman, on 85, was caught by Adam Ball. Gloucestershire’s lead was already 331 by this stage; the partnership between 32-year-old Gidman and the former New Zealand international having almost certainly batted Kent out of the game.

Gareth Roderick joined Marshall at the crease to see play through to stumps, by which point the home side had moved onto 213-4, giving them a lead of 351.

With some interruption by the weather expected in the remaining two days, Gloucestershire’s declaration is expected at some point tomorrow, while Kent will need some mighty rearguard action to save themselves from slipping to their second defeat of the campaign.

 

Stumps, day two:

Gloucestershire vs. Kent, LV= County Championship Division Two, The Bristol County Ground, Bristol, 18-21 May 2014:

Gloucestershire 213-4 (A Gidman 85, Marshall 66*, Stevens 3-54) and 252 all out (Roderick 59, Riley 3-51) lead Kent 114 all out (Billings 42, Ball 37, W Gidman 4-14, Fuller 4-32) by 351 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 5, Kent 3

 

Full scorecard available here