Derbyshire 300 and 100-1 (Montgomery 42*, Came 34*)
Kent 219 (Foreman 49, Stewart 48, Aitchison 4-58, Randell 3-36, Andersson 3-39)
Derbyshire lead by 181 runs
Of course Ben Aitchison led from the front, taking four wickets and in the process passing fifty victims for the season. Testimony to his quality is my struggle to think of anyone on the county circuit that I would prefer to him in the side. On his form this summer, there isn't anyone.
Besides his bowling, he has safe hands at slip and can handle a bat. There is much to like in such a player and his success is well deserved.
He was well backed up by Brett Randell, who has come in to replace Mohammad Abbas and done better than his predecessor. Eleven wickets at 21 each confirm the job he has done and today he was probing and accurate, never letting the batters settle and the ideal foil for Aitchison on this surface. Following on from his important support with the bat yesterday, he has had a fine match so far.
Then there was Andersson, perhaps now ready to take on the mantle of true all rounder, as opposed to the bowler who batted a bit who played at Middlesex, and the batter who bowled a bit when he came to Derbyshire. Three wickets to follow his century confirmed his talent and what a signing he has been.
Credit to Mickey Arthur, as I believe in being even-handed. The signing of Andersson has definitely earned brownie points, so too that of Randell, who has fitted in so well.
Montgomery and Came did a fine job for their side in the evening session, playing straight and concentrating on occupying the crease. It is key to the result of this match that both press on tomorrow.
The pitch is far from easy and mention should also be made of Brooke Guest, who I thought kept quite brilliantly today. He has had his struggles with the bat this year, but when at his best he is quite excellent with the gloves. One single-handed take above his head - standing up, mind - from a ball bowled by Randell that exploded from a length was ridiculously good and his footwork and hands worked well together today. The seven extras conceded by Derbyshire compared very favourably with the 47 given away by Kent, the day before.
There were signs of variable bounce, especially from the City End, but Derbyshire will hope to push on tomorrow and set Kent in excess of 350 in the final innings. 181 runs ahead, they are in a good position to do so, but they have squandered positions of strength before and must not do so again.
The visitors need to win, so realistically will chase most targets set. There hasn't yet been much sign of turn, but hopefully Morley and Bashir come into their own on the final day. Kent will hope for more from the names in their top order, though Foreman was resolute for them today and Stewart so often lends value with the tail.
Anyway, this was a good day's cricket. Fair play to all involved.
Let's push on tomorrow, lads!
It's only right to offer praise when it's due. A very good performance today and pleased to see it.
ReplyDeleteThink I’d rather have Randell back next season as opposed to Abbas he’s been a wicket taker and is better with the bat too. Unfortunately can’t see them going back on that two year deal. Much better performance ‘so far’ in this game but it couldn’t get much worse after the embarrassment last week.
ReplyDeleteAn excellent day but I was disappointed with Bashir. Poor line and length and didn’t pose any threat. That’s two games on the bounce he has performed poorly. Let’s hope he can put it right in the second innings. Grant from Telford
ReplyDeleteA good couple of days and, after recent performances, very timely.
ReplyDeleteAitchison and Andersson are fine cricketers and we are lucky to have them. So too Randell; I’d love to see more of him next year.
Fingers crossed for a win to end the home games in style.
Chris in Shropshire.
Andersson talked a lot of sense in his interview after play on Tuesday about responding to recent dismal performances.
ReplyDeleteOutstanding camera work as usual - so much better than at Bristol and several other grounds. Disappointing, though, to see the Kent slip fielders running towards the umpire to claim caught behinds and to hear their "near miss" groans after a batsman has played the ball firmly away. As you have pointed out before, it's an ugly addition to the modern game. At least Kent applauded Andersson's century generously enough.
An excellent day for Derbyshire against a very good Kent side. Our seam bowling trio all bowled well and ,as has been said, Guest looked very good behind the stumps. The only disappointment for me was our spinners. Neither took a wicket and were not economical. Bertie Foreman had a lengthy spell for the visitors yesterday and made things difficult for our batsmen with accurate probing off spin. Our spinners should take note.
ReplyDeleteI noticed some uneven bounce from the City End yesterday. Hopefully, careful accumulation of runs tomorrow and then we can set Kent a big target. And who knows, we might just achieve victory after our dire performances recently.
Chapel Guy.
Good with the ball and good with the bat today. Andersson is an underrated bowler.
ReplyDeleteLet's push on tomorrow and hit 350-400. Came and Montgomery batted well today. I hope they can advance the opening stand, and otherd can provide runs.
Downthewicket
Is this the same team that lost to Gloucestershire?
ReplyDeleteProof, if required that these players are good enough.
Still, there are 2 days to go and we have all seen sudden collapses in form.
Let's hope that this time it will be different.
Yes a very much better performance in this match.The medium pacers were excellent but our spinners just aren't backing them up with wickets.Bashirs average 41.34 nowhere near good enough Abbas average 40.54 they wont knock teams over with those stats!Topspinner.
ReplyDelete