Lancashire took control on day two of their Championship match with Kent, despite a Rob Key century at The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence.
Key top scored in Kent’s innings with a superb 134 from 162 deliveries as Kent were all out for 260, having earlier collapsed to 7-3; the former captain making his fifth century of the County Championship season.
Ben Harmison was the only other batsman to pass 15, as he put on 59 in a partnership of 158 with Key, before Lancashire reached 75-0 in their second innings at the close of play.
Kent took exactly half an hour of the morning to finish the Lancashire first innings off, rookie Matt Hunn removing overnight centurion Ashwell Prince with just his fourth delivery of the day, caught by Stevens at second slip. Prince, Hunn’s second victim in first-class cricket, failed to add to his overnight score, but his 134 counted for almost half of his side’s first innings total.
Kyle Jarvis was the last man in, joining Parry at the crease, and it was Parry who would be the last wicket to fall for the visitors. He was removed by Darren Stevens’ first ball of the morning, with the Kent all-rounder picking up his 200th first-class dismissal, James Tredwell taking the catch, leaving Lancashire all out for 284.
With overhead conditions suiting the quicker bowlers, Kyle Jarvis and Oliver Newby made hay straight away, as the Kent top order collapsed to 7-3. Sam Northeast (0) was the first to go, clipping Jarvis straight to Luke Procter at midwicket, before Daniel Bell-Drummond (1) and Brendan Nash (0) both went in the next over; Newby first sending Bell-Drummond’s off-stump flying out of the ground, before Nash was caught just three balls later, Tom Smith completing a juggling catch.
As Ben Harmison joined Rob Key at the crease, the pair knew that they had a major rebuilding job to do, and saw their side through until an early lunch was taken at 12.20pm due to rain, the score on 41-3.
After the sides returned to the field, Key was given two lives in the same Tom Smith over, as he was twice put down in the slips while on 29. He quickly put this to the back of his mind, however, firstly going past 50, and then bringing up the hundred partnership alongside Harmison nine overs after that. Former Durham batsman Harmison brought up his own half-century not long afterwards, his knock coming from 103 balls.
The 150-partnership also came and went, before being broken on 158 when Harmison was trapped lbw by Newby for 59, having made his fifth fifty of the Championship season.
His innings was vital in supporting Key, who continued to take the attack to the Lancashire bowlers, hitting spinner Stephen Parry back over his head to move to 97. On 99 at the non-striker’s end, however, he was to see another partner back in the Pavilion; Darren Stevens adjudged to be lbw to Kyle Jarvis for 5.
Former captain Key brought up his fifth century of the campaign in the same over though, his superb, quick-scoring knock coming from just 118 balls, and including 11 fours and one six.
Sam Billings (13) and Adam Ball (7) were both dismissed before the tea break, Billings excellently caught by a diving Andrea Agathangelou in the slips; Ball trapped lbw by Parry, as Kent saw themselves through to the break at 237-7, still trailing by 47, with Key still unbeaten on 132 and his captain James Tredwell alongside him in the middle.
Kent would have been hopeful of advancing further towards the visitors score in the final session. Their progress took a blow when James Tredwell (7) was bowled shouldering arms to Tom Smith, and then an even bigger one in the next over when Key was finally dismissed for 134, caught in the deep by Jarvis off Parry for exactly the same score as Ashwell Prince had made in the Lancashire innings.
The last innings pair of Matt Hunn (0) and Mark Davies (15 not out) lasted for just over six overs before Hunn was bowled by Parry, leaving Kent all out for 260, 24 short of Lancashire’s total. With Davies’ 15 not out the third highest score of the Kent innings, it showed just how important Key and Harmison’s partnership was to the side, with Key’s runs totalling more than half of Kent’s final total.
The Lancashire opening batsmen made their way back out to the middle with 21 overs left in the day, and made a cautious, watchful start as Mark Davies and Darren Stevens took the new ball.
Three other bowlers – Adam Ball, Ben Harmison and James Tredwell were used, but Paul Horton and Luis Reece seemed to have very few problems with any of them, as they saw their way through to the close of play at 75-0. Just about the only chance of the innings came from the final ball which was edged for four, but the batsmen were otherwise untroubled in a tame final session of the day.
Kent will resume on the third day knowing that they require early wickets to keep in touch with the Division Two champions.
Kent: Northeast, Key, Bell-Drummond, Nash, Harmison, Stevens, Billings, Ball, Tredwell, Davies, Hunn.
Lancashire: Horton, Reece, Prince, Brown, Procter, Agathangelou, Smith, Davies, Newby, Parry, Jarvis.
Stumps, day two, Kent vs. Lancashire, LV= County Championship Division Two, Canterbury, 24-27 September 2013:
Lancashire 284 (Prince 134, Brown 42; Davies 2-41, Ball 2-42) and 75-0 (Horton 36, Reece 33) lead Kent 260 (Key 134, Harmison 59; Parry 3-51, Newby 3-57) by 99 runs with ten wickets remaining.
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