Kent 352 (Bell-Drummond 129, Benjamin 56, Crawley 44, Haydon 5-82)
Derbyshire 24-0 (Came 16*, Jewell 8*)
Derbyshire trail by 328 runs
I didn't see the morning session, as we were travelling back from Berwick-on-Tweed after another lovely holiday. I managed to rewind the stream (fixed cameras...) and saw the wickets.
It was pleasing to see the Kent top order removed, but when I settled down to watch in the afternoon, I said to my wife that Daniel Bell-Drummond was enjoying such luck that a century was sure to come. He was fortunate to survive a very good spell from Zak Chappell after lunch, when he nearly played on and could have been leg before. There were a number of play and misses too, but around them a number of dazzling strokes that highlighted once again what a very good cricketer he is.
He was well-supported by the lower order, especially Chris Benjamin, but the Derbyshire bowlers stuck well to their task. It is hard to tell at this stage if 352 is a good or only middling score, but Derbyshire will want to bat long and with a similar collective battling mentality as that shown by their hosts.
The ball of the day was certainly the one with which Andersson dismissed Crawley, while the catch must have been the one held by Wayne Madsen from the bowling of Haydon. It flew up to his right and he held it with the aplomb of a man plucking an apple from a tree. There doesn't appear to be an awful lot wrong with his eyes, that's for sure.
Yet the day belonged to Rory Haydon. I have been a fan since I first saw him in action for the second team and he just looks a good bowler. He is always there or thereabouts, was still running in with the same enthusiasm at the end of the day and fully deserved his first five-wicket haul in first class cricket. I have every confidence that it will not be the last.
Derbyshire had a tricky five overs to face before the close and they reached 24-0 without too many alarms. I would love to see a good partnership between Jewell and Came tomorrow, as a prelude to a long and enjoyable and enjoyable - from a Derbyshire perspective - innings!
Probably honours even at this stage, but tomorrow will probably be very important for both sides.
(Stats from David Griffin X feed)
Although better than nothing, I thought the stream was poor. Just fixed cameras at each end which were pointed at an empty outfield at times. The replays were non existent, the screen said REPLAY or WICKET then showed nothing. Derbyshire's stream is far better. Back to the cricket, Rory Haydon was clearly the best bowler. I thought Zak Chappell was off it today conceding a lot of runs. Hopefully Derbyshire won't collapse in a heap tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteMichael
I agree Michael. If this was all everyone had available it would be fine. But standards have been upped and there are so many very good ones now.
DeleteOh, it's terrible isn't it? It's been the worst county stream for several years now--although Gloucs (last year) and Sussex (this) seem to have joined them in the fixed camera nonsense recently. Sussex have the excuse of dire financial straits, but I've read that Gloucs are doing it deliberately as a matter of policy.
DeleteThe two games this season I've seen Kent have also featured the dubious pleasure of Dan Whiting commentating...:-)
Dave
Not so sure the honours even, at 5.00 p.m. definitely Kents day, just like Gloucestershire you could see their confidence improve as the day went on.
ReplyDeleteThere was a massive cheer from the Kent faithful when they got there first batting point, and Bell-Drummond got a standing ovation when he was out.
At the close of play I would still favour Kent slightly, however I do agree it will be a big day tomorrow.
Just hope we bat better than last time, at least we don't need anything like last game and overnight rain doesn't freshen things up.
Lastly a very good crowd in the sun.
Thanks Anon - please add a name, thanks!
DeleteIf they were 350-5 I would say their day, but we won the toss and bowled them out. Maybe for more than we hoped but we were batting by the close. Hence my feeling honours even - though 'runs on the board' and all that!
DeleteMaybe something for Mickey to think about there Rory Haydon , probably only playing because Mohammed Abbas is off with Pakistan , gets a five-for. Maybe others not playing regularly could also contribute. Congrats to Rory.
ReplyDeleteI would put Kent ahead , Runs on the board especially with our tendency to make a complete mess of at least one session a match. Martin
Excellent from Rory Hayden to claim 5 wickets in an innings. With Abbas away, he has the opportunity to show that this wasn't a one off. Aitchison bowled well, again. Let's see what kind of score we can post tomorrow,
ReplyDeleteDisappointing for me that Kent reached 352 from a position of 93-4, especially after Derbyshire chose to bowl. I couldn't understand how sparingly Bashir was used when Chappell was conceding around 5.4 runs per over.
ReplyDeleteI wasn’t able to watch but great performance by Rory Haydon, who would not have played if we hadn’t had the injuries/absence of Abbas. It goes to show that we have talent in the ranks that should be given a chance. Let’s hope for a strong batting performance today.
ReplyDeleteAllez Derbyshire
Adrian
Isn’t cricket great, you lose your star overseas signing & have to play a rookie bowler, the rookie then produces better figures than your star overseas has done so far. Not sure what the message is here but makes me chuckle.
ReplyDeleteIt looked a good cricket pitch to me & run scoring seemed on the side of batters. I would prefer to be in our position than Kent’s. We should be able to bat all day today, whether we do or not will determine our fate in the game.
MarkB
Please for Rory and hope he kicks on. We did bowl a bit wide early doors and it was doing a bit. Sadly it was a day crying out for Abbas (good luck on duty), stick it on 4/5th stump and let the swing/wicket do the work. All in all Kent probably got a few too many but DBD batted well and we managed to dismiss the tail. Great work from the two lads surviving a tricky period and need to kick on today
ReplyDelete