Kent kept up the pressure on second division leaders Essex with a convincing County Championship victory by an innings and 127 runs over Sussex.

Their first Championship win at Hove since 1992 has for now moved Kent level on points at the top with Essex, who are pushing for victory themselves against Worcestershire at Chelmsford.

Kent will be hoping that Worcestershire’s batsmen show more application than Sussex’s managed on the third morning as they tamely surrendered eight wickets in 27.5 overs, several of them to questionable shots.

Kent seamers Mitch Claydon, Hardus Viljeon and Matt Coles took three wickets each as Sussex suffered their first Championship defeat of the season to end their own slim chance of making a late charge for promotion.

Their hopes of making Kent work for victory depended largely on the experienced Chris Nash and Luke Wells but both fell within 30 minutes of the resumption. Nash (23) got a beauty from Viljoen which pitched and left him off the seam but Wells tried to cut a ball that he should have left alone and gave second slip Coles a head-high catch. He wasn’t the only Sussex batsman with poor judgement of balls outside off stump.

None suggested they were in the mood to get their head down thereafter. Coles found some extra bounce to have Fynn Hudson-Prentice (20) caught off the glove and Cachopa (34) gave a catch by wicketkeeper Sam Billings, moving in front of first slip.

Skipper Ben Brown (19) could consider himself unfortunate when he played on to a ball from Darren Stevens that hardly bounced and by then it was only a case of whether Sussex might hold on until rain arrived at lunch time.

But their tail offered little resistance. Ollie Robinson (6) guided a ball at least a yard outside off stump from Coles to third man, Danny Briggs (4) was pinned by Claydon’s nip-backer and with lunch delayed after the ninth wicket fell Claydon wrapped things up when last man Steve Magoffin (8) was caught behind. Only Nash batted for longer than an hour.

Kent head to Beckenham next week where victory over Northamptonshire could set up a potential winner-takes-all promotion decider against Essex at Canterbury on September 20.

Speaking to journalists at the close of play, Kent captain Sam Northeast expressed his happiness at his side’s dominant showing.

 

Photograph courtesy of Sarah Ansell Photography