Kent v Essex
Specsavers County Championship
Sunday 18 August – Wednesday 21 August
The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence, Canterbury
Kent Team: Sean Dickson, Zak Crawley, Daniel Bell-Drummond, Heino Kuhn, Sam Billings(c), Ollie Robinson (wk), Darren Stevens, Ollie Rayner, Harry Podmore, Matthew Milnes, Mitchell Claydon
Essex Team: Nick Browne, Alastair Cook, Tom Westley, Dan Lawrence, Ravi Bopara, Ryan ten Doeschate (c), Adam Wheater (wk), Simon Harmer, Mohammad Amir, Sam Cook, Jamie Porter
Toss: Uncontested, Essex elected to bowl
Umpires: Paul Baldwin & Ian Blackwell
Result: Essex win by 3 wickets
Day Three : Match Highlights
Day Three Reaction: Adam Wheater
Day Three Close of Play Report:
In its 168 years, Canterbury Cricket Week has never witnessed anything quite like it as Essex overcame a first-innings deficit of 112 to land an astonishing three-wicket Specsavers County Championship win with over a day to spare.
A devastating 7 for 23 by Sam Cook set up the opportunity for an Essex victory before Adam Wheater with an unbeaten 30 eased his side across the line to a 3-wicket success.
Cook totally wrecked the Kent second innings to leave Essex requiring 153 for victory after the home side had been bowled out for 40. However, there were a few alarm bells along the way before Wheater’s magnificent effort – and supported by 30 Simon Harmer – took the team to a 6th successive Championship victory of the campaign.
Alastair Cook (29) and Tom Westley (25) had put Essex into a favourable position after the early loss of Nick Browne as the pair posted a 46-run stand, but then the loss of three wickets in 11 balls gave Kent new impetus.
The dismissal of Cook was followed by Dan Lawrence and Ravi Bopara, who both ended with a pair to leave Essex still requiring 101 runs for victory.
Ryan ten Doeschate joined Westley in carrying the score to 82, before Westley was bowled. Two runs later, the Essex skipper joined him back in the Pavilion having scored 17.
Now 84 for 6 and with their backs to the wall Essex found two valiant heroes in Wheater and Harmer who steadily and selectively gathered runs. They pushed on to reach a half-century stand in 15 overs when Harmer found the ropes at deep mid-wicket.
The 7th wicket pair had taken their side to within 12 runs of victory when Harmer became the 15th lbw victim of the match to end the 75-minute liaison with Wheater.
But the latter was not to be denied his glory. Joined by Mohammad Amir he ensured that there were to be no further setbacks with Amir striking the winning run in what is the last red-ball game of his career.
Wheater had faced 65 balls and batted for 99 minutes, collecting just two boundaries, in an invaluable contribution as Essex reached the target in 42.1 often nervy overs.
Earlier Sam Cook had wrecked the home side’s second innings as they slumped to their lowest score against Essex in the Club’s history.
He and Amir removed the top four in the order for only 7 runs before Cook picked up his third wicket of the innings to leave Kent 9 for five.
The 22-year-old fast bowler bagged both Heino Kuhn and Darren Stevens in his 5th over and then Harry Podmore in his next, to enjoy figures of 6 for 12 at that stage with the scoreboard showing Kent on 23 for 8.
Ollie Rayner and Matt Milnes scrambled 13 runs, which ended as the highest partnership of the innings before Cook saw off Rayner and in the next over. Jamie Porter wrapped up the innings by re-arranging Milnes stumps for 9.
Amir finished with 2 for 16 and match figures of 6 for 64 whilst Cook returned career match-best figures of 12 for 65.
Essex take 19 points from the match to further endorse the league leaders position with a hard-fought victory and with a day to spare.
Day Three Tea Report:
Sam Cook produced a remarkable spell of bowling as Kent were dismissed for 40 in 18.1 overs to leave Essex requiring 153 runs for victory on what has been an incredible day’s play at Canterbury.
At tea, Essex were 28-1 having lost Nick Browne for 3, but Alastair Cook reached the interval unbeaten on 19 with Tom Westley yet to get off the mark.
The visitors had been dismissed for 114 in the morning to give Kent a lead of 112 runs but Cook was to prove a daunting opponent to the home side as he spearheaded a revival in the league leaders fortunes.
The 22 year-old returned career-best figures of 7 for 23 as a series of batsmen failed to contend with the movement he enjoyed to such devastating effect.
From the moment he pinned Sean Dickson in the crease with his second delivery and without a run on the board, he caused mayhem for a series of batsmen as wickets fell in rapid succession with Cook at the forefront of the batsmen’s demise.
He claimed Zak Crawley for 3, Darren Stevens for 4, Ollie Rayner for 9 and Harry Podmore for a duck who were lbw victims. Two other of his victims relied on the assistance of his colleagues, Heino Kuhn was caught behind for 5 and Ollie Robinson was caught by Tom Westley at third slip for 2.
Meanwhile, Mohammad Amir removed Daniel Bell-Drummond for 4 and Sam Billings for a duck with the aid of catches by Simon Harmer and Adam Wheater respectively.
The first four wickets fell in six overs for just 7 runs and when Robinson was dismissed two overs later, half of the Kent side were back in the Pavilion with only 9 runs on the board.
Their misery continued as Cook captured two more wickets to leave them 19-7 and then 23-8 with Cook enjoying figures of 6 for 12 at that stage.
A ninth-wicket stand of 13, the highest of the innings, briefly held up further Essex progress but Cook put an end to that show of resistance before Jamie Porter castled Matt Milnes to end the Kent misery.
Not a single Kent batsmen was able to reach double figures in an innings that commenced at 1:59 pm and concluded just 1 hour and 26 minutes later.
It was the lowest score Kent had made against Essex in their history, the previous lowest being 43 at Southend in 1925 whilst it was also the home side’s lowest first-class score on the St.Lawrence Ground.
Essex were left with six overs to face before tea during which Browne edged Stevens to third slip but Cook and Westley ensured no further setbacks before the interval on a day when twenty wickets have fallen in two sessions of play.
Day Three Lunch Report:
A disastrous session of play saw Essex bowled out for 114 to trail Kent by 112 runs after the first innings, with the visitors losing nine wickets for 74 runs in 30 overs in the Specsavers County Championship clash at Canterbury.
Essex had resumed on 32 for one but the loss of Alastair Cook for 12 to the sixteenth ball of the day to trigger a rapid decline that saw four wickets, including that of the opener, tumble in 62 balls to leave Essex 49 for five.
The ageless Darren Stevens accounted for Alastair Cook (12) and also Tom Westley, who scored 17, both batsmen succumbing to lbw decisions to leave the evergreen all-rounder with the 495th first-class wicket of his career.
Neither Dan Lawrence nor Ravi Bopara troubled the scorers, both falling to Harry Podmore whilst Ryan ten Doeschate became the third lbw victim of Stevens. The Essex skipper scored 6 and his dismissal left Essex 58 for 6 with a possibility of falling to avoid the follow-on.
Simon Harmer had scored five when he was lbw to Mitch Claydon with Essex still 10 runs short of the 77 runs they needed to avert the possibility of being asked to bat again.
They had Adam Wheater and Mohammad Amir to thank for overcoming that ignominy. The pair put on 43 runs in 11 overs with Amir posting his highest score for Essex in the four first-class matches he has been involved with for the county beating his previous highest of 22 not out.
He was finally dismissed for 28 when caught at short extra cover to end an innings spanning 50 minutes and 39 balls whilst two deliveries later and with the score still on 110, Wheater edged a ball from Podmore to the wicket-keeper to end his resistance lasting 76 minutes for 20 runs.
Shortly afterwards, Sam Cook, who had scored 2, picked out Sam Billings at cover to conclude the Essex innings that lasted 47.3 overs.
Day Two : Match Highlights
Day Two Reaction: Anthony McGrath
Day Two Close of Play Report:
A stop-start day at Canterbury ended with Essex on 32 for 1 in reply to Kent’s first innings total of 226 all out, with Alastair Cook on 8 and Tom Westley 10 not out.
The last of four interruptions for rain proved terminal with play called off at 5:20pm on a day when 58 overs were lost due to the bad weather.
Essex captured two wickets quickly when Kent started the day on 125 for 6, with yesterday’s heroes Mohammad Amir and Sam Cook both adding to their personal hauls of three wickets apiece. Hopes of a rapid conclusion to the innings though were dispelled by a ninth-wicket partnership of 65 by Harry Podmore and Matt Milnes.
They had earned the home side a batting point carrying the total to 203 but Ravi Bopara found the edge to have Milnes caught at slip by Alastair Cook for 31.
Shortly after, rain made its first appearance of the day.
The first hold-up brought an early lunch with the hosts on 211 for 9 and there was another heavy shower 8 minutes after the players had returned to the field.
That proved to be a short interruption with the action re-commencing after 17 minutes allowing Harry Podmore to complete a 65-ball half-century that included 1 six and 8 fours.
It was Sam Cook who brought the innings to a close with the fourth delivery of the second new ball. The 22-year-old right-armer encouraged last man, Mitch Claydon to drive to Westley at short extra-cover to bag his fifth wicket of the innings and leaving Podmore 54 not out.
It was the fourth time in his career Cook, who has been out of first-team action since 17th June because of a side injury, had bagged a 5-for and the first time this season he had accomplished the feat.
Before Essex could start their reply, rain returned causing tea to be taken early. The visitor’s innings finally got underway at 4pm, but Nick Browne was an early casualty having contributed 6 of the 8 runs on the board.
Facing the penultimate ball of the third over, he steered an away swinging delivery from Podmore to Ollie Rayner at second slip.
Cook and Westley though proved adhesive batting vigilantly. Westley took 23 balls to get his score moving but he then produced a splendid cover drive to get off the mark. Cook played with his usual calm authority as the pair, eager to avoid any further incursion by the Kent attack, mustered just 8 scoring shots from the combined 78 balls they faced.
But then another heavy deluge saturated the ground leaving the umpires no alternative but to abandon play for the day.
Day Two Tea Report:
Sam Cook took 5 for 42 as Kent were dismissed for 226 at Canterbury. The bowler, who turned 22 earlier this month, bowled with impressive consistency to return his first 5-fer of the season, and 4th of his career.
It took Essex 31 balls to capture the hosts remaining wicket when they resumed after lunch on 211-9.
Last man Mitch Claydon edged a delivery from Simon Harmer to slip but Alastair Cook was unable to complete the catch. Immediately after, play was suspended for 17 minutes due to a shower.
Upon the resumption, Harry Podmore pulled a ball from Harmer to the boundary to reach a 65 ball half-century with the assistance of 9 boundaries.
It was not until the new ball had been taken that the innings finally closed when Cook struck with the fourth delivery when he encouraged Claydon, on 9, to drive into the hands of Tom Westley at short extra-cover.
That left Podmore unbeaten on 54 in a meaningful innings of resistance that boasted an array of fluent drives.
However, before the visitors could commence their reply, the weather closed in once more and that put paid to any further play in the afternoon session, the last action having taken place at 2:47pm.
An early tea was taken with the hopes of a prompt resumption shortly after the statutory 20-minutes interval.
Day Two Lunch Report:
Sam Cook and Mohammad Amir both struck early on Day Two, but Essex’s hopes of wrapping up the innings quickly were frustrated by a 65 runs partnership between Harry Podmore and Matt Milnes.
Ravi Bopara finally ended that resistance to leave Kent 203-9 but seven balls later, rain-swept down on the St. Lawrence Ground to suspend play with Kent 211-9 and Podmore 43 not out.
The day had started in bright sunshine and with the penultimate ball of his third over of the day, Amir beat Ollie Rayner (5) for pace uprooting the batsman’s off stump. That left the home side 128-7 and ten runs later Cook trapped Darren Stevens in front of his stumps for 6.
However, Milnes and Podmore set about reviving their side’s fortunes deploying a sensible and pragmatic approach. Amir and Cook gave way to Jamie Porter and Simon Harmer before Cook returned to the attack, but he was quickly replaced after successive boundaries by Milnes.
Podmore then cleared the ropes when facing Harmer and the half-century stand was completed in 12 overs.
Ryan ten Doeschate then turned to Bopara who rewarded the skipper’s decision in only his second over. Having played a key part in carrying the total past 200 to earn Kent a batting point, Milnes on 31, prodded outside off stump to a good-length ball and Alastair Cook took a comfortable catch at slip.
That gave Essex their third bowling bonus point, but rain was to curtail play shortly after and lunch was taken at 1pm, with six overs lost. Amir currently has figures of 4 for 48, Cook 4 for 42, Bopara 1 for 15 from 2.1 over, Porter 0 for 58 and Harmer 0 for 39.
Day One : Match Highlights
Day One Reaction: Sam Cook
Day One Close of Play Report:
Sam Cook and Mohammad Amir proved the star turns as the Essex pace duo shared six wickets on a truncated opening day’s play at Canterbury against Kent who reached the close on 125-6.
Cook produced a fine spell of bowling to grab three wickets in 27 balls at a personal cost of 4 runs whilst Amir bookended the 22-year-old’s efforts.
He undid Zak Crawley who had scored 5 when he had his off-stump uprooted and then struck later in the day to add Daniel Bell -Drummond and Ollie Robinson who top-scored with 55 and 35 respectively.
Cook, who was returning to senior team action for the first time since June 17 when he sustained a side injury, showed his well-being with the wickets of Sean Dickson, Sam Billings and Heino Kuhn as the home side were reduced to 49-4 after an uncontested toss.
Cook struck with his second delivery having taken over from Jamie Porter at the Pavilion End when Dickson stepped across the line and was lbw for 8. Then six deliveries later, he undid Billings who played forward and was trapped in the crease for a single before Kuhn was bowled for 6.
Bell-Drummond apart, the Kent top-five all struggled against the pace of Cook, Porter and Amir who had taken the first wicket of the day with his ninth delivery of the morning to add to his list of 254 first-class victims in what is his final red-ball match.
All three bowlers passed the bat on several occasions with only Bell-Drummond showing the resilience and aptitude in the top half of the order half to protect his wicket.
He eventually found an ally in Ollie Robinson as the pair improved Kent’s fortunes with a partnership of 68 against a ball that had lost its shine and hardness.
Bell-Drummond deployed a sensible approach whilst quick to punish the looser delivery to reach his half-century from 99 balls that embraced seven boundaries.
Play began on time, but the morning session was destined to last just 9.1 overs before heavy rain curtailed the action in what is Kent’s 168th Canterbury Festival with the hosts 11 -1.
Eventually, the action resumed at 3.30 p.m. after umpires Ian Blackwell and Paul Baldwin had made two inspections. Seven overs into the post-lunch session, Cook made his mark and his telling spell saw him reach tea with the admirable analysis of 7-4-7-3.
The total had been carried to 117 when Amir ended the resistance of Bell-Drummond and Robinson shortly before the close. He produced a fast in-swinging delivery to end Bell-Drummond’s innings spanning almost three hours and then one run later, repeated the delivery when bowling Robinson in his next over as Kent succumbed to 118 for 6.
Amir ended the day with figures of 17-4-30-3 whilst Cook returned 13-4-25-3.
Day One Tea Report:
Sam Cook announced his return to First Team action with a superb spell of bowling that earned him three wickets in 27 balls at a personal cost of just 4 runs as Kent reached tea on 61-4.
The 22-year-old paceman had been absent with a side injury since 17 June but bounced back in style to remove Sean Dickson, Sam Billings and Heino Kuhn.
Cook claimed the scalp of opener Dickson with his second delivery of the match when the batsman, who had scored 8 in 67 minutes at the crease, stepped across the line and was leg before wicket.
The right-arm bowler then struck six deliveries later to have Billings lbw as the batsman reached forward before Cook bowled Kuhn for 6 with a ball that found extra lift as the home side slumped to 49-4.
Cook had been introduced into the attack taking over from Jamie Porter at the Pavilion End, who together with Mohammad Amir, had passed the bat on a number of occasions without reward when play resumed belatedly in the afternoon session.
Daniel Bell-Drummond did manage to frustrate the Essex attack as he arrived at the interval 33 not out having faced 68 balls accompanied by Ollie Robinson who was 3 not out.
Cook meanwhile reached the break with figures of 7-4-7-3.
Day One Lunch Report:
Mohammad Amir took only nine deliveries before striking with the ball in the final red-ball match of his career as Essex resumed their County Championship campaign with Kent at Canterbury.
The left-armer had sent down a maiden and then sent back Zak Crawley who played down the wrong line and lost his off stump that was sent cartwheeling out of the ground.
The opener had scored 5 out of the 7 runs on the board but five overs later, heavy rain swept across the St. Lawrence Ground with the home side 11-1 after an uncontested toss.
Sean Dickson was 3 and Daniel Bell Drummond was 2 not out when the heavens opened to bring a halt to proceedings after just 55 balls.
Under heavy cloud cover and with the floodlights on after three overs, Amir and new ball partner Jamie Porter had caused a number of concerns for the Kent batsmen until the action was halted at 11:38am.
Lunch was taken at the scheduled time of 1:00pm.
Essex included four players in their starting eleven who have not played a senior match for four weeks due to the Vitality Blast campaign with Alastair Cook, Nick Browne, Jamie Porter and Sam Cook all returning to action.
At least the truncated morning session allowed Amir, who confirmed that he will also be available for the county’s final four T20 matches, to add to his impressive statistics in the longer form of the game.
The 27-year-old has now taken 255 wickets in 67 first-class matches and 119 wickets in 36 Test matches.
Amir featured three times for Essex in their title-winning 2017 County Championship Division One campaign, as Ryan ten Doeschate’s side went on to claim the title for the first time in 25 years.
The left-armer took 14 wickets at an average of 13.50, including best figures of 5-18 against Yorkshire at Scarborough.
