James Harris took three wickets on the final day to seal victory for Kent despite the best efforts of former Kent man Vernon Philander (73*) to win by 147 runs and maintain their excellent county championship form this season.
However it wasn’t as plain-sailing as the hosts might have liked as, needing four wickets to win, the final wicket falling midway through the afternoon session.
In a fairly lacklustre opening period of play Joe Denly, fresh from his late evening double-success the night before, and Darren Stevens opened up proceedings but the visitors fended off any imminent danger and with three runs through the off-side Michael Burgess registered a half-century (50*, 162b, 7×4) and Sussex’s two-hundred (201/6, Wiese 27*).
Plugging away Kent and Harris got the breakthrough forty-five minutes into the session, the bowler proving too quick for Wiese (34), knocking the off-stump out the ground, Sussex 211/7 (Burgess 53*).
The opening hour of play saw that solitary wicket go to the hosts as Sussex moved on to 235/7 (Burgess 63*, Philander 10*) with the new-ball imminent and duly taken upon its offering.
Charged with the new-ball Matt Coles and Stevens looked to make the game safe for the hosts and it was Coles who created the chance but the stalwart Burgess (64*) was dropped by Will Gidman at first slip (249/7, Philander 19*).
Coles wasn’t to be denied though trapping Burgess (68) leg-before, Sussex 263/8 (Philander 29*), Kent requiring just two more wickets to take the match however the visitors saw it through to lunch (312/8, Sussex 312/8 (Philander 47*, Jofra Archer 27*) with the final over before the interval amassed fourteen runs including two sixes from the bat of Archer.
During the lunch break the anticipated rain made an appearance forcing the ground-staff to bring on the covers although after a short delay they were removed and with five overs lost due to the rain shower Sam Northeast led out his men for what would hopefully be a wicket-taking and match-winning shortened session in the final afternoon.
Harris struck for the second time in the day and with the second ball of the session as Archer (27), playing back and across his stumps to work the ball to leg-side, missed it and was out leg-before, Sussex 312/9, leaving Kent one wicket from victory.
Before the much anticipated final wicket fell to seal victory for Kent there was still time for ex-Kent man Vernon Philander (50*) to reach his half-century (69b, 7×4, 1×6) and in knowing perhaps the game was up the South African took on Harris with one over offering a hat-trick of boundaries.
And midway through the afternoon session Kent took the final wicket to win the match. Danny Briggs (18) given out leg-before to Harris, the ball seemingly going down the leg-side, with Sussex 356 all out (Philander 73*), Kent winning this match by 147 runs.
After steering his side to second spot in the Division 2 table Kent captain Sam Northeast said: “Sussex battled really hard second time around and I felt taking new-ball wickets was the key for us. Stevens and Coles bowled excellent spells for us yesterday and through there were times when we didn’t look like getting wickets we kept grinding away. hoping something would happen, and eventually it all worked out.”
“We’ve got good variety in the attack right now with Joe Denly’s leg-spin talking it away from the right-handers with ‘Tredders’ bringing it the other way. Joe has earned the right to feel part of the bowling attack now.”
“The pitch had a little more carry than last year but, as a batter you’d like to play here more times than not. So to take 20 wickets was a seriously good effort.”
After his side’s third defeat of the campaign Sussex skipper Luke Wright said: “”It is a disappointing result but we were up against a very good Kent side who have started really well in this competition. I think the difference in this match was the new ball. They bowled very well with it, with Darren Stevens outstanding in our first innings, but I thought we also bowled well with it in their first innings in particular and it seemed as though we were the team which nicked it and they were the ones who didn’t.”
“We thought we had Joe Denly early in his first innings hundred and obviously if that decision had gone our way it might have made a big difference too. But it was losing early wickets ourselves in both innings which made it so hard. ”
“By the end of the game it was a really flat pitch and, if we had not have lost those four early wickets in our second innings I think we could even have had a go at chasing down that 504 target.”
Kent:
1st Innings: 369 (Denly 119, Stevens 44, Rouse 44, Gidman 42; Wiese 3/54, Philander 3/78)
2nd Innings: 298/2dec (Bell-Drummond 90, Dickson 74, Denly 71*)
Sussex:
1st Innings: 164 (Weiss 36; Stevens 5/40, Harris 3/37, Tredwell 1/4)
2nd Innings: 356 (van Zyl 78, Philander 73*; Harris 4/103, Coles 3/85)