Yorkshire v Kent April 28-May 1st

County Championship at Headingley

Neil Whitaker reports

DANIEL Bell-Drummond hit his second consecutive Championship century as he made 109 against Yorkshire at Headingley after last week’s 149 against Hampshire at Canterbury.

With Jordan Cox they rescued the Kent innings which  was in danger of being over before tea.  They added 133 in 37 overs. Put into bat Kent found themselves three wickets down for 20 in the 10th over.   Doing the damage for Yorkshire was Pakistan international Harris Rauf. On his last appearance at Headingley Rauf saw Liam Livingstone dispatch him over the football stand, on that day the temperature was a lot higher than it was today,who took four wickets.

After switching back to bowling over the wicket from bowling around the wicket  Rauf  angled one across Ben Compton who nicked it to give stumper Harry Duke an easy catch.  Rauf got his second wicket in his next over when Zak Crawley tried to work Rauf to leg, missed the ball and was plumb leg before hitting leg.

Former Yorkshire player Jack  Leaning, captaining Kent, was beaten by the pace of Rauf and was leg before.  Later in the over Rauf could have had his fourth wicket when Cox clipped him off his legs and just out of the reach off Jordan  Thompson at mid wicket who made a spectacular leap for the ball.

Bell-Drummond showed his aggression from the moment he came in when Rauf missed his yorker and Drummond dispatched the ball to the mid wicket boundary. But he did have a slice of luck when he pulled Rauf over Matthew Revis at mid wicket.

He said: “We are more happy now than we were at     20 for three.  There's still something in the pitch for the bowlers but there are runs in it as well.  It is extremely pleasing to get another hundred but I try and get a hundred in every innings.  I am feeling in a good place and I took the confidence from the last game into this.  I’ve been working on a few things in my technique.

Cox has been in brilliant form all season and he is going from strength to strength.”

To take him into the 20’s he stroked Revis, who received his second team cap before play started, to the extra cover boundary. He got a leading edge to Steven Patterson intending to play to leg but the ball ended up on the cover boundary.

On 40 he got an inside edge to Patterson which just evaded Dom Bess at short leg.   But Yorkshire fluffed their best chance on the second ball after lunch when Bell-Drummond, without adding to his lunchtime score of 50, edged Patterson to Adam  Lyth at second slip.  Moving to his left Lyth dropped the easiest of chances.

Cox also regularly found the boundary.  He top edged a pull off Rauf and found the boundary behind the slips to bring up the Kent hundred.  Two balls later he nearly fell for the mousetrap when he hooked a short ball from Rauf just clearing Revis on the fine leg boundary.

Rauf was also pulled to mid wicket for three it not only brought up his fifty which came 79 balls in 111 minutes with eight fours it also brought up the hundred partnership with Bell-Drummond.  Cox greeted the return of Thompson’s return to the attack with three fours which saw him overtake Bell-Drummond for the first time.

Bell-Drummond and Cox found the Yorkshire attack easier to handle after the first hour as it became bereft of ideas.  After 46 overs without a wicket and the Yorkshire crowd becoming more anxious Yorkshire captain Patterson brought on Bess and he struck with his second ball.  Cox batting on middle and off walked across  a straight ball and was plumb leg before. His 68 came from 110 balls in 148 minutes 12 fours.  

Still Bell-Drummond kept finding the boundaries.  He brought up his century when he pushed Rauf through backward point for a couple to bring up his hundred from 172 balls in 219 minutes with 16 fours.

In the final session of the day the umpires took the players off the field for  58 minutes for bad light.  They had been back on the field for 30 balls when Bell-Drummond top edged a pull off Revis, the ball went up in the air and Rauf took a simple catch at mid on.

Ollie Robinson became the third Kent player to reach 50 when he punched Patterson off his back foot for a couple through mid wicket.  Robinson became the fourth leg before victim of the innings when he almost fell over the ball. Patterson moved Lyth from second slip to short mid wicket which prompted Robinson to work the ball through the covers.  

Yorkshire took the new ball and with Rauf poised to bowl the second over with it the umpires took the players off bad light again.  

Bess said: “When you get three early wickets you expect to get them out for tea.  I thought Bell-Drummond played well  and put the ball away nicely but he did have a couple of life’s.  Cox batted positively.

It’s a good wicket and at 270 for six it’s still even and by our standards it’s not been a bad or good day.  If we get them out for less than 300 and with our batting line up we should get beyond that.”

Day 2

A YORKSHIRE record breaking partnership  between Dawid Malan and Harry Brook for  any wicket against Kent turned the day around for Yorkshire from struggling to get the ball away  to scoring runs freely.

They added 269 in 54 overs beating the 267 made by Wilf Barber and Sir Leonard Hutton at Headingley in 1934.  The partnership was broken, the ball after they had broken the partnership when Malan tried to pull a short ball from Matt Quinn but as he swung round he gloved it to stumper Ollie  Robinson.

It was the second time this season that Malan and Brook had added 150 plus for the fourth wicket.  For Malan, it was his first Championship century of the season and his third in four first class matches at Headingley. 

Malan took his time  in getting going but once he did the Kent bowlers knew about it.  In one over from Nathan Gilchrist he hit four fours all over the pitch.  He turned George Linde off his legs for a single to bring up his fourth Championship fifty off the season  from 65 balls with eight fours.  The former Middlesex player brought up the hundred partnership with Brook off 121 balls with a smashing drive off Nathan Gilchrist to the extra cover boundary.

Grant Stewart  squared Malan up who edged it and the ball ran between Robinson and first slip.  It wasn’t long before  Malan and Brook got the scoreboard rattling along  never mind ticking over.  The pair came together whe Yorkshire had slumped to 22 for three.

Brook outscored Malan from the moment he took guard and made Kent paid the price for not having a third man as he found the vacant third man boundary three times in a Matt Milnes over.  

He became becalmed but suddenly he sprang back to life and like Malan he reached his 50 with a shot off  Linde.  He turned, Linde off his legs for a single to bring up his fifty off 73 balls with eight  fours in 105 minutes.  In the next over he pulled a short ball from Gilchrist to the mid wicket boundary.  He stood and delivered a straight six off Linde. Later he pulled Linde with disdain to the square leg boundary, a classical shot from a batter in form to left arm spinner.

The conditions on the second were as different to those on the first as chalk is to cheese. On the second day it was warmish with lots of blue sky and a few clouds whereas on the first day it was dull, overcast and cold.  Kent were hoping to get beyond 300 but their innings only lasted another 30 minutes as they added another 21 in 64 overs.  Harris Rauf not only  completed his five wicket haul for Yorkshire but also his first in first class cricket as he finished with five for 65 .  He got his fourth wicket of the innings with the last ball of the first over of the day when Grant Stewart pushed forward at him and edged him to Harry Duke.  Gilchrist tried to get his feet out off the way of  a fast yorker from Rauf and was bowled.

Rauf said: “It’s vital that I try to do my best for my team.  I haven’t done much bowling with the red ball so  I am playing county cricket to improve my cricket skills.  I want to bowl longer spells so that I can play international cricket.  When the weather improves I am hoping to bowl faster.  I am enjoying being here and the fans asking me for my autograph and they have got lots of photos of me.  Everybody here has been good to me.

We had a plan to take the last three wickets this morning and a good partnership tomorrow we hope to get a good lead and then it’s back to the ball.  It was a big moment for me when I took my fifth wicket and for the crowd.”

Jordan Thompson got in on the act with the other two wickets to fall. First Stewart tried to play him through mid wicket but missed the ball and was leg before.  He wrapped the innings up when he beat Quinn’s outside edge and knocked his off stump out of the ground.

At first Yorkshire’s reply mirrored Kent’s first innings on the first day as they lost their first three wickets for 23. They couldn’t get the ball away.  In Stewart’s first spell he bowled six consecutive maidens and he was backed up by Milnes, Gilchrist and Quinn as they dried the Yorkshire runs up for 30 minutes before they conceded a run, the first run he conceded came from his first ball in his second spell, The pressure paid off and brought Kent a wicket.  When they did bowl a wide delivery it brought them a wicket, Dimuth Karunaratne went after a wide one from Gilchrist and edged it to Robinson.

George Hill, looking to score consecutive centuries after last weeks 150, looked good but decided to leave Gilchrist on length and was leg before.  Adam Lyth glanced the first ball after lunch from Milnes to Robinson, as he walked off he looked disappointed with the decision. He faced 58 balls in 92 minutes for his seven. Quinn got his second wicket with the new ball when trapped Duke leg before.

At 2.19 play was suspended for 36 minutes while a spectator received medical attention and 10 overs were lost from the day’s allocation which will be made up Saturday.  It also meant tea would be 40 minutes late and that there would be a late finish.

Day 3

+HARRY Brook improved his claims for Test selection with a career  best score in front of a watching England selector James Taylor but he fell six runs short off his double century.

He said: “I am not thinking about England at the moment I just want to score runs for Yorkshire, what will be, will be.  I can’t control  what other players are doing but as long as I am scoring runs.

I try to be positive when I am batting.  When I was batting, I was thinking about beating my dad's best score of 210 in local cricket.  I was aiming to get past that. Yesterday when Dawid Malan got past 100 it was like watching a masterclass.  We  hope that Bess will take a few wickets but he hasn’t got much to work with on the pitch.”

Brook and Dom Bess added 151 in 30 overs for the sixth wicket.  Brook looked to be enjoying himself as he dominated the partnership while Bess was more than happy to be the junior partner.

He cut Matt Milnes for the first boundary of the day and brought up his 150 which came from 211 balls with 16 fours and two sixes when he drove Matt Quinn to the extra cover boundary.  Batting majestically, Brook went  down the wicket to George  Linde and drove him straight to the boundary.

The partnership was broken in a soft and unexpected manner when he gloved a short ball from Nathan Gilchrist down the leg side to Ollie Robinson. His dismissal stunned the crowd as it took them some time to realise what had happened.

Throughout the partnership Bess was quite happy to give Brook the strike but gradually scored runs.  He turned Lende to fine leg for a couple to bring up his fifty from 69 balls with six fours. After that there was no stopping him; he even pulled Gilchrist over square leg for a six.  After lunch he made an half hearted attempt to drive Leaning  but edged him to Jordan Cox at slip. Bess was so disgusted with the shot that he sank to his knees as Cox pouched the catch.

Jordan Thompson made a quick fire 33 from 40 balls  as the Yorkshire inched their lead towards 230,  but he tried to slog Linde over mid off but he  got a leading edge.  A back peddling Jack Leaning took the catch at mid on.

Matt Revis chased a wide delivery from Leaning which didn’t pitch on the cut strip and smashed it over extra cover for a six.  In the next over he lofted Linde over mid wicket for his second six.  Revis launched Linde over the long-on boundary for another six. He reached his maiden Championship fifty when cut Linde for a single.  Eventually Linde got his man when Revis sliced a drive off Linde and Cox running from cover took the catch.

Linde got his first wicket for Kent when Steven  Patterson tried to carry on in the same vein and tried   to sweep him across the line and was bowled.  He said: “ It was nice to get my first wicket for Kent.  I am coming back from injury so I  am still finding my feet.  I am happy that I got some runs in the first innings and if I am needed  to bat tomorrow I know what to expect, so I am not worried about it.  We’re pretty happy with the position that we are in and hope that the two out there will bat through the day.  The wicket is pretty flat. “ 

Yorkshire’s score of 571 is their highest score against Kent and it’s the fourth consecutive match that Kent have conceded 500 in an innings but today Kent went a bowler down at 12.20 when Grant Stewart pulled up halfway through his 21st over clutching his left hamstring as he left the field.

Trailing by 280 Kent lost their first second innings wicket when Zak Crawley smashed a full toss from Revis straight back to the bowler who couldn’t get out of the of the ball and it stuck. A great start because Harris Rauf didn’t take to the field because he had a slight niggle in his left side.

Kent’s centurion in the first innings made only two second time around when Daniel Bell-Drummond smashed a full toss from Patterson straight to Dimuth Karunaratne at cover.  On four, Leaning was dropped at third slip by George Hill off Patterson. Leaning flashed at Patterson and the ball flew through the slips Hill got a hand to it but it wouldn’t stick.  Yorkshire gave him another two lives when he was dropped twice in three balls.   Leaning turned Bess to  room leg but at leg slip couldn’t hold it. Two balls he drove Bess to Thompson short mid on who couldn’t take the catch.

Brook added: “We dropped a couple of catches near the end which happens in cricket, we have to create more chances tomorrow.”

Ben Compton kept his remarkable record of scoring a fifty or hundred in every match he has played for Kent when he cut Bess to the third man boundary.

Day 4


FOR the second time in seven days Yorkshire were denied a victory when it seemed a racing certainty.

Last week they failed to take ten Northamptonshire wickets; today they were denied by a combination of flamboyant batting, watchful batting and the weather.  With Yorkshire  needing 114 to win in a minimum 21 overs two Lancastrian umpires Steve O’Shaughnessy and Graham Lloyd decided the light was too bad and took the players off at 5.07 at 5.44 the match was called off as a draw.

Head coach Otis Gibson said: “It’s very frustrating with the way things have panned out because of last week and failing to get over the line today.  We were a man down. It's very disappointing that Harris Rauf picked up an injury and if he had played today it would have been different but I am proud of the way we fought to the end.  We have played some very good cricket but we are in a result business.   We could have won all three games.

I thought we would have knocked off the runs in 10 overs if pushed. In this match the new ball has been a challenge.  I thought Harry Brook played for the team and not for himself.”

Needing another 162 to make Yorkshire to bat again, Kent lost their first wicket of the day when Jack Leaning tried to leave one from Steven Patterson but got a feather touch on it to Harry Duke.  So there was no happy return to Headingley for Leaning.

Could that man Ben Compton defy Yorkshire as he had done Lancashire.  On 71 he edged Patterson but Adam Lyth at second slip dropped the ankle height chance.

Kent were even  awarded five penalty runs to lower the runs needed to make Yorkshire bat again when Jordan Cox was struck by a throw from a petulant Matt Revis in his follow through and the umpires adjudged to be a level two offence.

Yorkshire got their second wicket when Jordan Thompson cramped Cox up for room and brought one back to distrib Cox’ bails.

When another hundred looking a certainty, Compton’s 283 minute resistance ended when George Hill got one to jump at him and the ball flew to Lyth at second slip at knee high.  Hill got his second wicket of the innings within the last ball of his first over after being recalled to the attack. Bowing around the wicket he angled one at George Linde and trapped him leg before for 16 in 63 minutes but he also took 54 balls out of the game.  With  Ollie Robinson they Yorkshire for 18 overs adding 35.

Kent had four wickets left and were still 62 behind with Grant Stewart, batting with Cox as a runner.  On one leg he drove Patterson to the cover boundary. He smashed Dom Bess over cow corner for a huge six.  On 39 he chipped Thompson to Patterson at mid on but the ball dropped just short off Patterson.  He pulled a short ball from Dawid Malan to the mid wicket boundary and two balls later he cut him for a single to bring up his fifty for 58 balls with six fours and a six.

As Kent took the lead Stewart’s batting continued, he hooked Thompson over the square leg boundary for another six to take Kent’s lead to 52.  In the first two overs after tea Kent scored 30 as Stewart rocked on to his back foot and launched Revis over long on.  Another short ball from Revis was dispatched by Stewart to the square leg boundary to overtake Robinson.  He hit his third six when he clubbed  Revis over long on.

Their partnership of 168 is a record seventh wicket partnership for Kent against Yorkshire beating the 140 made by James Tredwell and Andrew Hall at Tunbridge Wells in 2007.  Yorkshire broke their partnership like it happens so many times with a runner with a run out.  Stewart pushed Paterson out on the onside and Robinson at the bowlers end set off for a single but the runner Cox failed to beat Thompson’s direct hit.  Stewart’s entertaining knock came from 91 balls and included 10 fours and four sixes.

Nathan Gilchrist got his sixth consecutive Championship duck of the season when he chipped Patterson to Revis at mid off.  Patterson deflected a return catch from Matt Quinn past Revis at mid off for a boundary but Quinn chipped the next ball to Revis. Kent had lost four wickets for nine runs in 24 balls.

Robinson was unbeaten on 85 and produced the shot of the day when he drove Hill straight for the shot of the day.  On 47 he survived a strong leg before appeal from Patterson but the ball appeared to be going down the leg.  In the next over he cut Revis to the point boundary to bring up  his fifty from 105 balls.

He said: “It was a bit of frustration that, having wrestled the game back into our hands, we gave it away a little bit.  It’s been the story of our season so far and has put a bit of a sour note on it. But I guess you can’t be too disappointed to come away with 11 points after them scoring the best of 600.

I haven’t had a great start to the year, so for me it was just about batting time and finding a way. I really benefited from that and have come away with some confidence. It’s always fun to bat with someone like that, and Grant just did what Grant does. 

“A soon as he starts to get a bit defendy and pokey at balls, he starts to get into a bit of trouble. The ways he plays is look to be positive - almost fighting fire with fire.”

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