Essex 2nd XI v Kent 2nd XI
Second XI T20, Thursday 27 May
Garon Park, Southend
Match One (Friendly):
Team News:
Essex 2nd XI: Will Buttleman (wk), Feroze Khushi, Robin Das, Aron Nijjar (c), Jack Plom, Marcus Critchley, Jamal Richards, Aaron Beard, Joe MacGregor, Ben Allison, Matt Quinn.
Kent 2nd XI: Daniel Bell-Drummond (c), Joe Denly, Ollie Robinson (wk), Jordan Cox, Alex Blake, Jack Leaning, Darren Stevens, Grant Stewart, Michael O’Riordan, Matt Milnes, Fred Klaassen.
Match Details:
Umpires: RA White and RG Eagleton
Toss: Kent 2nd XI won and elected to bowl first
Result: Kent 2nd XI won by 8 wickets
Essex 2nd XI: 124-9 (20.0 overs)
Kent 2nd XI: 127-2 (12.0 overs)
Brighter weather conditions and a strong Kent side were a welcome sight by the seaside as Essex’s second string were put to the test in back-to-back T20 encounters at Garon Park, Southend.
Indeed, with nothing in the way of a Championship fixture, it was the visitors’ strongest available squad that crossed the river to glean valuable match practice against a competitive Essex line-up.
The first fixture, a friendly, saw Jack Plom top-score for the home side, contributing 28 of 18 balls as Essex posted 124/9.
Jamal Richards chipped in with 20 with Kent using seven bowlers. One of which was England international, Joe Denly who took two wickets, along with Darren Stevens, Matt Milnes and Fred Klaassen.
Plom claimed the notable scalp of Denly off the fourth ball of the third over as Essex looked to make inroads. However, 40 off 20 deliveries from skipper Daniel Bell-Drummond provided Kent with a firm platform for victory.
Ollie Robinson’s half-century came off 26 balls, while Jordan Cox was alongside him in the middle on 27 as Kent secured an eight-wicket victory inside 12 overs – Marcus Critchley (1/14) and Plom (1/29) the only successes with the ball for Essex.
Match Two:
Team News:
Essex 2nd XI: Will Buttleman (wk), Feroze Khushi, Robin Das, Aron Nijjar (c), Jack Plom, Marcus Critchley, Jamal Richards, Aaron Beard, Ben Allison, Matt Quinn, Eshun Kalley.
Kent 2nd XI: Daniel Bell-Drummond (c), Tawanda Muyeye, Jack Leaning, Alex Blake, Jordan Cox (wk), Darren Stevens, Michael O’Riordan, Fred Klaassen, Harry Podmore, Nathan Gilchrist, Hamidullah Qadri.
Match Details:
Umpires: RA White and RG Eagleton
Toss: Uncontested – Kent 2nd XI batted first
Result: Kent 2nd XI won by 9 runs
Kent 2nd XI: 186-7 (20.0 overs)
Essex 2nd XI: 177-8 (20.0 overs)
The teams resumed, this time in Second XI T20 South Group action for what proved to be an altogether closer affair.
Invited to bat, Kent began at a furious pace. Indeed, Essex, with a vastly inexperienced team in comparison, did well to restrict the visitors to 186-7.
Kent’s Tawanda Muyeye rattled 42 off 25 deliveries before becoming one of Aaron Beard’s two victims. Meanwhile, Alex Blake (32), Bell-Drummond (28) and Jack Leaning (26) were also amongst the runs as Aron Nijjar took 2/21. Aaron Beard was also amongst the wickets taking 2/46 as the Essex attack stuck to their task manfully.
In response, Will Buttleman and Feroze Khushi put on 69 for the opening wicket – the former first to depart after being snaffled in the gloves of Jordan Cox off a ball from Hamidullah Qadri.
Khushi stuck around to reach 65 as Essex impressively made a fist of it. But the target was always going to be a tall order. Jamal Richards scored 18, while Ben Allison and Eshun Kalley put together an unbeaten ninth-wicket partnership of 33 before the host ran out of road – Leaning with 4/16 as Kent won by nine runs.
Report courtesy of Brian Jeeves
