Match Report: Lancashire vs. Kent

Kent faced Lancashire in their fourth Vitality County Championship match of the season, at Emirates Old Trafford.

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Day One Report:

Kent’s Joey Evison made his third fifty of the season as the Spitfires put on 203/7 against Lancashire on the first day of their Vitality County Championship match at Emirates Old Trafford.

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Evison was helped by Grant Stewart, with whom he put on 69 for the seventh wicket, a stand in which both batters took the attack to Lancashire’s Test spinners, Nathan Lyon and Tom Hartley, on a gloomy afternoon in Manchester.

The pair came together with their side placed on 129 for six after George Balderson had taken three prime wickets in 28 balls, but their calculated aggression had enabled the visitors to reach 203 for seven, with Evison unbeaten on 50, when rain arrived five overs into the evening session and prevented any chance of a resumption.

But Evison and Stewart’s aggression was in sharp contrast to the watchful opening 75 minutes of the day, in which 45 runs were scored in 17 overs. However, Kent then lost three wickets in four overs. Ben Compton was the first to go when he pushed forward to a delivery from Balderson and was caught by wicketkeeper Matty Hurst for 13.

Zak Crawley then stroked a trio of fine fours off successive balls from Balderson but was dismissed for 41 in the next over when his cover drive to Will Williams nicked a catch to Hurst. And Lancashire’s best period of the morning was completed a few minutes later when Balderson nipped one away from Daniel Bell-Drummond and the Kent skipper was caught by George Bell at third slip for three.

Jack Leaning was bowled for four when a ball from Balderson snaked inside his loose off drive and knocked back the leg stump. That meant Kent had lost four wickets for 27 runs and it left the home side poorly placed on 76 for four at lunch.

Matters got no better for Kent on the resumption when Harry Finch was pinned on the crease by Williams for three to leave the visitors on 83 for five. However, Evison showed no sign of being overwhelmed and put on 46 with Joe Denly, who then tried to take on Jennings, the long-on fielder, and was caught by the Lancashire skipper off Lyon for 18.

By mid-afternoon Lyon was bowling in tandem with Hartley, a tactic to which Evison and Stewart responded with selective attack rather than dull quiescence. Stewart showed a particular keenness to swat Lyon through the off side whenever the Australian pitched short and brought up the pair’s fifty partnership when he thumped Hartley over long-on for six.

Only six balls could be bowled after tea before a brief interruption for rain and shortly after the players returned, Evison reached his fifty off 117 balls with a single off Lyon. But joy in the away dressing-room was short-lived as Stewart was caught by Luke Wells off the very next delivery when he pushed forward with uncharacteristic caution and nicked a catch to slip.

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Kent all-rounder, Grant Stewart, said: “In the first hour of play, it looked like there wasn’t a helluva lot going on but then there was a period there when it looked as though everything was going on. But Joey steadied the ship there and then Joe Denly faced a lot of balls and consolidated the innings.

“We’re probably a few short of where we want to be, but we’ll fight again tomorrow and hopefully get a few more.

“It’s good to be back and Joey’s been one of our form batters, so it was nice to be out there with him and to try and feed him some of the strike.”

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