Northamptonshire are all out for 303 against Kent, after a fluctuating first day in the LV= Insurance County Championship match at Canterbury.
Emilio Gay hit 112 after the visitors lost Ricardo Vasconcelos to the first ball of the day and Ryan Rickleton was the next highest scorer with 55, but having reached 205 for two, they lost their next eight wickets for 98 runs.
Matt Milnes had Kent’s best bowling figures with three for 47, while Joe Denly took two for 31 and Matt Quinn two for 51.
The 170th Canterbury Festival began with the temperature already over 25 degrees in the shade and in the day’s least surprising development, Northamptonshire chose to bat after winning the toss.
The pitch, however, didn’t look benign early on. Vasconcelos went for a platinum duck when he was caught behind off Matt Quinn and Rickelton and Gay then endured a torrid hour, during which they struggled to score at over two an over. Both survived, however, and as the session ground on, the runs came more freely, leaving the visitors on 95 for one at lunch.
An elegant cover drive off Matt Milnes took Rickleton to 50 just after the restart, but he then edged the same bowler behind.
It was otherwise a session of few chances. Luke Procter was dropped at leg slip when on 12 off Linde and Gay reached his century with a glanced two off George Linde, but he fell in the penultimate over before tea. Kent skipper Sam Billings threw the ball to occasional red-ball spinner Joe Denly and his second ball was pulled to Linde at mid-wicket, leaving Northants on 206 for three at the interval.
Denly struck again soon after the resumption, getting Procter caught and bowled for 33 and Jack Leaning then bowled Rob Keogh for six.
The new ball accounted for Josh Cobb who went for nine. He tried to cut Milnes and was caught by Ben Compton at point.
Milnes then splayed Jimmy Neesham’s off and middle stumps, bowling him for 33, before Quinn bowled Lewis McManus for four.
Ben Sanderson made 23 from 18 balls before he edged Grant Stewart and fell to a juggling catch by Billings and George Linde wrapped up the innings by bowling Simon Kerrigan for seven with the final ball of the day, leaving Jack White unbeaten on six.
Kent’s Simon Cook said: “We’re very happy, we wanted to bat first. The wicket’s a good pitch so to bowl a team out on it for 300 really puts us in the box seat. I think the encouraging thing about this innings is that we’ve done it in stages throughout the season. We’ve had good first sessions and good second sessions, but maybe the last session’s let it slip whereas this day showed really good first class bowling throughout and you reap the rewards at the end of the day.
“We kept it tight, went past the outside edge numerous times and we had a number of lbw decisions which were close but not given. The guys just kept going and didn’t get frustrated. They applied the same pressure and you see at the end of the day they lost seven for 97 I think in that session and really handed us a golden opportunity to force our way into the game.
“On good wickets sometimes you have to be a bit innovative with your field settings. You do have to use bowlers in short spells (in these conditions) and spread it around a bit. Joe Denly and Jack Leaning did a lot of bowling as well as the usual bowlers so you have to spread the load a little bit, but there was no let up of that pressure. Everyone knew their role and knew how to execute it.
“We’ve a lot about how the pitches have been pretty flat and there should be no fear about losing games of cricket, certainly batting here where the wickets are so good and the batters are in such good form.”
Northamptonshire’s Emilio Gay said: “Winning the toss and batting with the sun out on a very good wicket was definitely something we were very happy with. Losing that first wicket was obviously a shock to the system, but fair play to them for putting the ball in the right area first ball and being right on from ball one. It was important that Ryan came in, soaked up some pressure and we built that partnership brilliantly. That kind of set the tone and helped us maintain that momentum.
“I think fair play to the bowlers, they bowled well. We got them into their third or fourth spells, but they kept putting the ball in the right areas. I do think there were some soft dismissals there which let them back into the game, but I think moving forward tomorrow there’s definitely enough in the wicket. The ball was swinging throughout the day so I think there’s plenty of positives to take for us, with the bowlers we’ve got.
“It was very nice (to get a hundred). I felt like I’ve got a bit of a monkey off my back this year, having got three other fifties where I couldn’t kick on to get that hundred, it was very satisfying. Now hopefully it’s just a case of having got one I can get a couple more because I’ve got big ambitions with where I want to go with my game. I want to get into that England side in the future and play test cricket, so for me it’s about staying in the now and staying in the moment, but having big goals. I set myself high standards so I really want to kick on and carry on this form.”