Wicketkeeper Geraint Jones wants Kent to finish the season strongly having beaten Glamorgan by seven wickets on Thursday.

The stand in skipper watched on from the balcony as his side knocked off the 242 they’d been set by the home side in Cardiff with Sam Northeast (88) and Brendan Nash (70 not out) guiding the side to victory.

In a game of fluctuating fortunes, Kent went into the third day’s play trailing Glamorgan by 220 runs, but two wickets from Darren Stevens and the final one from Adam Riley prevented the hosts from adding any more than another 21 runs to their overnight total.

Valuable contributions from all of Kent’s top five saw the side canter home for only their second County Championship win of the season leaving Jones thrilled with what his side had produced given they had lost the toss:

“Going back to the start of the game, losing the toss and having a bowl was a good thing because I would have batted.”

“All of us looked at that wicket and it looked like an absolute belter. We thought it was going to be 500 plays 500, but it turned out to be a bit of a seaming wicket.”

“That played into our bowling attack’s hands very well with Mark Davies coming back in and it was the perfect wicket for him. With Darren Stevens doing so well too, to bowl them out for around 150 was the perfect start.”

“Although we didn’t get much of a lead, having a lead was invaluable and Daniel Bell-Drummond batted very nicely for his eighty odd.”

“That set the foundation of how we could bowl in the second innings. We were very disciplined and didn’t let them get away. To get be set only 242 on a wicket that was getting better and better was ideal and full credit must go to Sam Northeast for the runs he got in the second innings.”

“He’s been working really hard in the nets after battling away over the past few weeks and that showed some great application.”

“Brendan Nash then came in and finished it off in his usual busy way, so it was a pretty complete performance.”

With three County Championship games still to be played over the course of the next three weeks, Jones told KSN how he feels it is the ideal opportunity for players to show their worth after what was a game that saw everyone contribute:

“It was a real team performance and everyone did their bit. It was good to see everyone chipping in with some runs and the bowling unit did their jobs really well.”

“That bodes well for the future and we’ve got to make sure we take that into these final three games of the season against the three top sides in our Division.”

“We want to finish this campaign on a high and try to win these final three games. We know it’s going to be tough, but we’ve proved that on our day, we can be more than a match for anyone.”

Kent’s plans had to be changed at the last minute ahead of the game with Mitchell Claydon recalled by Durham for the rest of the season, but for Jones it made his life slightly easier:

“That was a twelfth hour decision, but if anything it helped me with a selection headache and it turned out on that wicket, Mark Davies was perfect for it.”

“I suppose I should thank Durham for that really! It’s a shame that means Mitch can’t play for us again this summer now he’s been recalled, so we won’t see him now until next season, but that’s given Davo an opportunity to get back into the side and he’s grabbed it with both hands.”

Kent will now enjoy an extra day off having wrapped up victory over Glamorgan inside three days with their next fixture beginning next Wednesday against Essex at Canterbury.

Picture supplied by www.sarahansellphotography.com