A thrilling third day finish could be in prospect at Lord’s where Division 2 rivals Kent and Middlesex continue to cross swords in an action-packed Specsavers County Championship match.
After the loss of 19 wickets on day one, this low scoring clash continued with a further 15 falling on an enthralling second day that ended through bad light at 6.20pm with Kent on 104 for four – requiring another 52 runs with six, second innings wickets intact to secure their fourth successive championship win.
With a potential 39 overs remaining in the day, Kent looked to make an ultra-positive start to their run chase but paid the price with the loss of four cheap wickets.
Zak Crawley was superbly caught by Dawid Malan off Ethan Bamber, then an over later, Matt Henry – promoted to ‘pinch hit’ at No3 – skewed his second ball to mid-off to gift his wicket to Steven Finn.
Sean Dickson and Joe Denly added 33 for the third wicket until Denly went leg before to James Fuller, then Dickson’s stay for 32 ended when he prodded at the first ball of a new spell from Bamber to be caught low at second slip.
The umpires took the players off nine balls later for a 20-minute break for bad light, after which Daniel Bell-Drummond and Heino Kuhn emerged to add 50 runs in positive fashion before the gloom descended again.
Kent took a stranglehold on proceedings during the mid-session when New Zealand strike bowler Henry bagged four for 40 to inspire a Middlesex collapse that saw the hosts lose eight wickets for 88 runs.
In taking five victims in this game Henry, the championship’s leading wicket-taker, took his season’s tally to 66 at less than 15 apiece as Middlesex succumbed in 60.2 overs.
It was Kent’s 42-year-old all-rounder Darren Stevens who started the home demise by breaking a useful opening stand worth 59 between Sam Morgan and Nick Gubbins.
Robson and Gubbins rode their luck under the floodlights as Henry and Harry Podmore beat the outside edge on numerous occasions. Yet, within 10 overs, Middlesex had wiped out the first innings deficit of 31 as the pair went on to record only their third 50-run first-wicket stand of the championship summer.
Stevens, fresh from signing a one-year contract extension to keep him at Kent for a 14th season, then struck at the double. Robson edged an away-singer to second slip then, four runs later, left-hander Max Holden fell leg before to an in-swinger that pitched on leg and middle to beat Holden’s airy, leg-side flick.
Middlesex lost three wickets for one run in the space of 13 balls after lunch after resuming on their interval score of 98 for two. Gubbins, off balance and working across the line, departed lbw to Podmore, then Henry swung the very next delivery back in to end Dawid Malan’s innings of 32.
Podmore’s slower ball off-cutter, which turned into a dipping, low full-toss, was scooped straight to mid-wicket by Eoin Morgan and the procession continued when Martin Andersson, in crab-like defence, played inside the line to Podmore’s in-ducker to be given lbw.
Stevie Eskinazi went in the same fashion to a shooting off-cutter from Stevens and Henry returned to polish things off with a 20-ball stint of three for seven. The slippery Kiwi got one to lift and leave Oli Rayner for a regulation catch at second slip then, in his next over, swung a full one away from Bamber for Sam Billings to snaffle a diving catch in front of slip.
Henry trapped Finn lbw for his 66th wicket of the championship campaign to leave Kent with a potential seven sessions of the match to secure their ninth win of the campaign.
The second day started with Kent completing their first innings. It lasted only another 11 deliveries as they added only three to their overnight score to miss out on a batting bonus point by eight runs.
Grant Stewart, the Australian-born all-rounder, was Kent’s last man to go for a battling 63, bowled by Fuller when playing across the line of a very full delivery. Fuller, the pick of the home attack, finished with four for 49 as Kent secured a modest 31-run lead.
Ethan Bamber, the teenage Middlesex rookie who has bowled creditable on his first-team debut, said : “I expected championship cricket to be a step up, which it is, but I just didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I have so far.
“I played my First team club debut with Joe Denly, which I’m sure he won’t remember, and I watched Heino Kuhn play Test cricket here for South Africa last summer, so to be playing against them both this year is incredibly cool. I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but feel really fortunate that it’s gone so we’ll this far.
“It’s the sort of pitch that’s doing a bit and there’s a temptation to get giddy and chase wickets. But I was just trying to smash my line and length, keep it simple and tight and make them play forward to every delivery, knowing that there’s enough In this pitch that one will nip or keep low from time to time. Two early wickets tomorrow and we’re right back in the game.”
Kent captain Sam Billings said: “The job’s definitely not done yet. I thought Middlesex looked comfortable batting up to lunch today, but in the space of two overs it all changed with Malan and Gubbings falling to successive balls. So we know it doesn’t take much to change the course of events and for us to feel on the back foot again.
“Heino and Daniel batted sensationally well after that break for bad light. They were busy, they ran well between the wickets and made it difficult for their bowlers to settle.
“It’s been an odd game of cricket, but we need to stay positive. It’s not a pitch to pick up boundaries freely, sobif they can add 20 to 30 to their partnership in the morning it will help ease a few nerves in our dressing room for sure.”