Wednesday, 9th July 2008
Yorkshire 410 & 196, Kent 467 and 142-7 - Kent win by 3 wkts
A spirited fight back from Yorkshire ended in vain at Canterbury, as Kent wrapped up victory in the County Championship clash by three wickets.
Despite setting the home side only 140 to win, Yorkshire’s attack made sure Kent suffered more than a brief nervous moment – during an enthralling 35 overs of cricket.
There was little evidence of the excitement early on, as despite Matthew Hoggard and Adil Rashid picking up two wickets each, Kent reached lunch relatively unscathed at 101 for four.
Then Rana Naved entered the scene – and the Pakistan International who has been out of County Championship action since May through injury, quickly made up for lost time.
He struck twice in his first over, including the wicket of the dangerous looking Martin van Jaarsveld for 41, as Kent suddenly stumbled to 102 for six. When the paceman also contentiously dismissed, Azhar Mahmood, with just six more runs on the board, Yorkshire sensed an unlikely victory.
Sadly that was as good as it got for the White Rose though, as Kent, who could yet have two one day final appearances this season, once more showed they can bat under pressure to record a win.
Yasir Arafat joined Geraint Jones at the crease, as the two safely negotiated everything the Yorkshire attack could throw at them. It was Arafat who hit the winning runs to finish on 19 not out as Yorkshire fell agonisingly short to lose by three wickets.
“It’s a bitter pill to swallow “, said director of cricket Martyn Moxon. “We put in a good performance today but it just compounds the disappointment of losing the game. It’s not doom and gloom though – we have done a lot of good things in this game, but to win County Championship games, you’ve got to play well for the entire four days.”
Moxon, and Yorkshire will be hoping they can get back to winning ways quickly, whey start their Pro 40 challenge against Essex at Chelmsford, on Wednesday.
DAY THREE REPORT
A disappointing day with both the bat and ball means that Yorkshire will have to produce something special in the field on day four, as Kent took control on day three of their LV County Championship match at Canterbury.
A second batting collapse in as many innings means that Yorkshire could only set the home side 140 to win by the close, in a game they had looked in command of for so long.
Trailing by 122 runs at the start of play, Yorkshire were confident of taking the early wickets they needed to turn the pressure on Kent, but they never materialised. Led by Captain Rob Key, who hit 157, and Yasir Arafat, who was unbeaten on 90, the home side managed to claw themselves back into the game with the bat during an absorbing morning’s play.
When Yorkshire did finally bowl them all out for 467 – the home side had built up a lead of 57 runs. At this stage there was little for the White Rose to worry about though, particularly on a pitch which had seen almost 900 runs scored on it in two innings. However, once more they failed to show the composure or calmness that they needed at the crease, as poor shot selection and brilliant fielding took the game away from them.
There was little sign of the dramatic collapse at first, despite Adam Lyth falling for just eight to Yasir Arafat - fellow opener Andrew Gale looked in good form as the Kent bowlers struggled on a hot summer day.
Gale, who made 36, was joined in the middle by stand in-captain Anthony McGrath and together they put on 60 as Yorkshire looked to have lifted the early pressure, but when Bradford-born McGrath fell for 25 to Azhar Mahmood, Yorkshire crumbled.
Andrew Gale was back in the pavilion soon after, caught behind by Geraint Jones from James Tredwell, as the White Rose found themselves on 72 for three – a lead of just 15.
The situation soon deteriorated when Gary Ballance, making his first class debut, could only make five before trying to play Arafat across the line and being trapped lbw.
There was brief respite for Yorkshire when Jacques Rudolph and Gerard Brophy entered the fray, as once more a mini comeback was staged, but nobody could go on to get the big score that was so desperately needed.
After Rudolph fell for 47, with the score on 176 for six, to give Mahmood his second wicket, Yorkshire’s resolve was broken. Between them Adil Rashid, Tim Bresnan and Rana Naved could only add 20, as the Kent attack grew in confidence.
The rout was completed soon after when Deon Kruis was brilliantly caught at slip by Justin Kemp to give Arafat his fourth victim of the innings. The rapid demise left Yorkshire all out for just 196.
With a lead of only 139 runs they will have to produce an excellent bowling performance tomorrow to avoid their second County Championship defeat in a row.
DAY TWO REPORT
A blistering five wicket spell from Azhar Mahmood helped give Kent an unlikely foothold against Yorkshire, after day two of the County Championship match at Canterbury.
Resuming on 359-5 overnight, the Kent fast bowler destroyed Yorkshire with a 19 over spell to finish with figures of 5-19 for the day, 6-55 in the innings. It meant Yorkshire were all out for 410 before lunch – a big collapse baring in mind they had at one stage been 341 for two during the final session of day one.
Jacques Rudolph was the first to fall, adding only 8 to his overnight score before becoming Mahmood’s first victim of the day, edging a leg side delivery to wicket keeper Geraint Jones for 129. His exit signified the start of the problems for Yorkshire and Adil Rashid lasted only 11 balls before being trapped lbw for a duck, as Mahmood took control.
He then claimed the wickets of Matthew Hoggard, Rana Naved and Tim Bresnan to leave Yorkshire all-out far sooner than they had expected – although they did still pick up the fifth bonus batting point for passing the 400 mark.
In reply the Kent batsmen then picked up from where their bowlers had left off, to make sure that at the close of play the home side are still well in the match. Led by captain Rob Key, who like McGrath played a Captain's innings, they finished on 298 for six. The ex-England international looked in fine knick to reach 122 not out, hitting 15 fours and rarely looking threatened.
With Key in fine form at one end, the introduction of spinner Adil Rashid did give Yorkshire much to cheer about at the other. The Bradford-born spinner helped reduce Kent from 202 for one just after tea, to 235 for five, as Yorkshire regained the initiative they had lost during Mahmood’s spell earlier on. He crucially broke the 135 run partnership between Key and James Tredwell, before also claiming the wickets of Darren Stevens and Justin Kemp to dump Kent back in trouble.
But Mahmood, this time with the bat, made sure no more wickets fell as he finished on 21 not out. It means Kent are still 122 runs behind Yorkshire with four wickets left.
Play resumes tomorrow at 11am.
CHRIS PARROTT
DAY ONE REPORT
After a difficult week off-the-field for Yorkshire, Anthony McGrath made sure it was their cricket that finally did the talking on day one of their County Championship match against Kent at Canterbury. The stand-in captain hit his first century of the season, as he and Jacques Rudoplh shared a record third-wicket stand for Yorkshire against Kent of 217, to put Yorkshire in control.
McGrath had hit 16 fours and 2 sixes on his way to 144 before being caught at slip by Martin van Jaarsveld from a full length Martin Saggers delivery.
Remarkably it was the batsman’s fourth century in five innings against Kent, “you just seem to have teams you do well against”, said McGrath. “It’s been a tough week for the club and so the lads were pretty determined to put in a good performance. We were quite down after the Friends Provident loss to Essex and obviously the Twenty20 news, but I think we have responded in the right way. We know there is lots of hard work still to do in this game, but I am pretty pleased with our current situation”.
At the other end, Jacques Rudolph was in just as imperious form. The South African, who was the top scorer for Yorkshire last year, smashed 12 fours and a six on his way to an impressive 121 not out. He did have his fair share of luck though. The ex-England wicketkeeper Geraint Jones dropped him three times during his innings, much to the dismay of a good sized crowd at the St. Lawrence ground.
Prior to Rudolph and McGrath’s fireworks, the 20-year-old Adam Lyth had once more impressed for Yorkshire as they won a good toss and elected to bat. Kent had only arrived back at 1am from their victorious Twenty20 cup trip to Warwickshire and, despite play being put back by an hour, Lyth helped put the pressure on the hosts immediately.
Despite fellow opener Andrew Gale being caught loosely hitting Robbie Joseph to cover for just 10, by lunch Lyth and McGrath had put on 81 runs to leave Yorkshire in a good position on 108 for one.
When Lyth was contentiously given out lbw by Yasir Arafat for 50, despite seemingly hitting it, the two had put on a partnership of 97 to leave Yorkshire on 124 for two. That brought Rudolph to the crease and Yorkshire never looked back. He is still there at the close on 121, though Kent did fight back with potentially vital wickets as the evening session drew to a close.
First debutant Gary Ballance could only make a nervous one before being trapped lbw by Arafat to give the home attack late hope. The Kent bowler then forced Gerard Brophy to loop a delivery to Darren Stevens at mid-wicket for a duck to leave Yorkshire on 348 for five.
Matthew Hoggard ensured no more wickets were lost though, to leave Yorkshire in a strong position on 359 for five at the close of play – just what they needed after a difficult seven days.
CHRIS PARROTT
PREVIOUS COVERAGE
Yorkshire travel to Canterbury for their 4-day LV County Championship match against Kent. The start time on Day 1 has been delayed to 12 noon to allow Kent time to recover following their Twenty20 Cup Quarter-Final on Wednesday.
Darren Gough is rested after an arduous schedule whereas Deon Kruis and Rana Naved return to Championship action after injury.
YORKSHIRE TEAM
(from) A. Gale, A. Lyth, A. McGrath (capt), J. Rudolph, G. Ballance, G. Brophy (w/k), A. Rashid, T. Bresnan, Rana Naved, D. Kruis, M. Hoggard and S. Patterson.