Heritage in Kent

Day 2 Friday 22nd April 2022

Kent v Hampshire 

by John Winter

Head to Head for Previous Matches

Hampshire's record in County Championship v Kent

P: 194, W: 41, T: 1, L: 74, D: 78, A: 2

Last 5 meetings:

September 06 – 08 2020 | The Spitfire Ground | Kent won by 7 wickets

September 23 – 26 2019 | The Spitfire Ground | Match Drawn

July 13 – 16 2019 | The Ageas Bowl | Match Drawn

September 15 – 18 2014 | The Ageas Bowl | Match Drawn

August 15 – 18 2014 | The Spitfire Ground 

Hampshire won by 196 runs

Day One

Canterbury - Kent win the toss and bat

On Day One, Kent have had marginally the better of the morning down at Canterbury, only losing England’s Zak Crawley to Mo Abbas. By mid-afternoon, Kent are 125-3 after 52 overs, whereas Gloucestershire are 136-3 after 47 overs in Manchester - where I am watching the opening day of the first division clash with Lancashire. Childcare duty means I need to watch local side Lancashire in action today. Tomorrow I can head down to London early to catch another train out of St. Pancras straight to Canterbury West to see my beloved Hampshire in action. Despite leaving the south to live in the North West more than 40 years ago, I can never substitute Lancashire for Hampshire as my team. Indeed, the pain from six months ago (September 23rd September 2021), when we lost that absolute thriller at Aigburth seems to be as acute as ever. Lancashire away for Hampshire has so many bad memories which all would have been erased in a heartbeat, if we could have removed Parkinson with either of those two balls he faced late that day. Another reason for being at Old Trafford today is a form update: Hampshire are due to play Lancashire next week at home in an early season top of the table clash. The only real difference then in the state of the games (between here and Canterbury) is that there are two new batsmen at the crease, since there has been a clear shift in momentum after the interval. Post lunch, Lancs were a different team in the field and the noose gradually tightened; Hassan was suddenly on a hat trick, having dismissed Hammond and then the unfortunate Lace first ball lbw. Kent, on the other hand, with Bell-Drummond completing his ton and Cox going well, have begun to seize the advantage against Hampshire. Mason Crane has proved expensive going for 38 off his 6 wicketless overs. At tea, I walked out onto the outfield here in Manchester in the bright spring sunshine with the scoreboard showing Gloucestershire 252 all out. Lancashire had six overs to bat, but lost Balderson for 4 in the final over to a run out from a direct hit thrown by Zafar to finish on 11-1.

Far more importantly down at Canterbury, the hosts were on top for the first two sessions, but Hampshire used the new ball to bowl themselves back into contention after tea; Keith Barker ended the day with 4-36 and Mohammad Abbas took 2-57. Kent had been 177-3 at tea and Bell-Drummond ramped up the pressure early in the evening session, hitting Felix Organ for six over long on. Cox, perhaps mindful of his seven-ball dismissal in the loss to Lancashire, was less hurried, scoring at around half Bell-Drummond’s rate. When Kyle Abbott trapped Bell-Drummond lbw in the 85th over, the momentum shifted. Although Cox reached 50 driving Abbas through long off for four, Barker then had Ollie Robinson caught behind for seven and Cox was caught behind off Abbas for 51. Barker subsequently removed Matt Milnes for four, Liam Dawson diving low at second slip, leaving Darren Stevens, who was unbeaten on 13 and Hamid Qadri (2*) to bat out the final two overs. Earlier, Bell-Drummond had hit 149 from 231 balls, with 25 fours and a six, putting on 126 for the fourth wicket with Kent’s next highest scorer Jordan Cox, who made 51.

Day Two

Canterbury - Start of Play: Kent 271-7

I manage to get to Canterbury for the morning session where Hampshire dismiss dangerman Darren Stevens early. He was clearly not happy at being given out - by Umpire Rob Bailey - caught behind Keith Barker. He looks at the umpire with dismay; it could even be pay back time for dismissing Bailey in his playing days with Northants. There will be plenty of umpires on the circuit with that in their locker, when officiating the 45 year old Kent star all rounder. It is another 5 wicket haul for Barker. His sixth victim soon followed with the dismissal of Nathan Gilchrist, again taken by the diving Brown behind the stumps. Rounding off the innings at 305, substitute fielder Fuller took a smart catch at square cover, diving forwards off Abbas in his first over at the Nackington Road End.

Hampshire’s opening partnership started purposefully against Jackson Bird and Matt Milnes. They both took full advantage of the short boundary on the side of the ground where the famous lime tree used to be and where the smart new flats are. It is a ground like Lord’s, Hove and Headingley with a pronounced slope which impacts on batting, bowling and fielding in varied ways. Hampshire lost Weatherley, just after he pulled Milnes for 6 on that short side behind square, with the score on 37. Despite losing Ian Holland lbw to Nathan Gilchrist for 25, Hampshire dominated the afternoon session, Vince beating Gubbins in the race to 50 when he nudged Hamid Qadri for a single in the 36th over. Right from the off, Vince unfurled his trademark princely cover drives and was equally dismissive through the leg side when the bowlers strayed too close to his pads.  Just after tea, a blistering and eye-catching century from James Vince put Hampshire in charge of their LV Insurance County Championship match with Kent at Canterbury. Hampshire were to finish on 337 for four at stumps on day two, a lead of 32, after Vince made 111 from 117 balls, including 19 fours. Nick Gubbins was the next highest scorer with 69, while Liam Dawson was unbeaten on 63. 

All afternoon Kent were simply unable to stem the tide of boundaries, Gubbins passed the half century mark when he drove Milnes for four, but he was out when he edged Gilchrist to Jordan Cox, who took a tricky catch at slip, ending a stand of 136. For his first hour at the crease, Vince was scoring at more than a run a ball, with a plethora of boundaries on both sides of the wicket. Gubbins had been freed up partnering Vince and Dawson immediately picked up the tempo on his arrival at the crease. Vince's only real scare came on 68 when he inside edged another cover drive off Gilchrist just past his stumps down to the fine-leg boundary. He went on to reach his 27th first-class hundred off 99 deliveries and it was a surprise when he was eventually out, steering Gilchrist to Cox at first slip for 111 having caressed 19 boundaries. Kent were the 14th of the 18 first class counties for Vince to register a first class ton against, since that first one at Scarborough against Yorkshire back in 2010; he scored 180 runs in a 278 run stand with James Adams back then, which is still the county's 4th highest partnership in first-class cricket. The missing ones are Durham, Middlesex and Northants so he can add the latter later in this season – we don’t play Durham very often, but that could change in 2023, if Beddingham keeps churning out runs and Rushworth does what Rushworth always does up in the north east.

The visitors scored 172 runs in the second session today and continued their onslaught after tea. Dawson pulled the second ball of the evening session, off Bird for six. When Vince eventually edged Gilchrist to Cox, Dawson kept up the scoring rate. He drove Milnes for two to reach his half-century and Ben Brown hit Stevens for four through the covers to give Hampshire the lead with the first ball of the 72nd over. Brown looked equally comfortable and had reached 42 not out when play was abandoned for bad light, with three scheduled overs remaining and Gilchrist poised to take the new ball.‌

Nick Gubbins, in an interview at the end of the day, said  “ James Vince is an absolute pleasure to bat with. He puts pressure on the bowlers and he was unbelievable. I'm really happy for him.”

Close: Hampshire lead Kent by 32 runs with 6 wickets remaining

Day Three

Canterbury - Start of Play: Hampshire 337-4 (Dawson 63*, Brown 42*)

It's been a fine innings by Liam Dawson, who reaches his 11th first-class century with a straight drive for four off Matt Milnes. Only 144 balls needed by the left-hander, who has hit a six and 14 boundaries so far. A dominant session by Hampshire, with Liam Dawson and Ben Brown extending their fifth-wicket partnership to 182. Dawson is 134 not out, with a six and 17 fours, and Brown is supporting him well on 89. The visitors lead by 152. Liam Dawson and Ben Brown have now put on 227 - beating the previous Hampshire fifth-wicket record stand against Kent of 219 by Philip Mead and Harold Day, just a couple of months short of exactly 100 years ago.

The Kent bowling attack is really suffering now at Canterbury. There are two more boundaries for Liam Dawson in the latest Hamidullah Qadri over and the young spinner has 0-113 so far. At 2.30, Dawson is 169 not out, equalling his highest score, Ben Brown has 135 and the lead is 234. Finally, some relief for Kent as Liam Dawson hoists Tawanda Muyeye's off spin to Jordan Cox at deep mid-wicket. It was a nothing ball, but the Hampshire batter has nothing to reproach himself for as he walks off with a career-best score to his credit. He batted for five and a quarter hours, faced 268 balls, hit three sixes and 20 fours and shared a stand of 273 with Ben Brown. Keith Barker reverse sweeps Hamidullah Qadri for four and Hampshire move past 600. Their highest score against Kent was 671 in 2002 - a match in which new England supremo Rob Key made 160 and John Crawley scored 272. Eight off Tawanda Muyeye's final over before tea and Keith Barker and Felix Organ are both 44 not out for Hampshire following another productive session at Canterbury. Muyeye removed Liam Dawson and Ben Brown, but they made 171 and 157 respectively and put on 273 for the fifth wicket. Hampshire's lead is now 347 and it's all about the timing of the declaration for them now.

Crawley and Compton batted well for the first hour of the evening session, but after 15 overs of resistance when they offered hardly any chances, Abbott got Crawley lbw for 29 and Bell-Drummond for a duck when he swished him to Organ at mid-off. Muyeye was then bowled by Organ for three and although Compton and Cox survived to stumps, Hampshire remain heavy favourites going into to day four.‌

Day Four

Canterbury - Start of Play: Kent 78-3

Hampshire have routed Kent by an innings and 51 runs in their LV= Insurance County Championship match at Canterbury, after dismissing the hosts for 296 in their second innings on day four. Kyle Abbott took five for 29, mopping up Kent’s tail with three wickets from four balls, while Felix Organ span his way to three for 63 as the visitors secured a maximum 24 points, while Kent managed just four. Meanwhile Lancashire’s excellent start to the season continued with a pulsating second victory in the LV= County Championship by an innings and 57 runs against Gloucestershire at Emirates Old Trafford. There were just 24 balls left in the match when Gloucestershire last man Jared Warner feathered an edge off Hassan Ali to wicketkeeper Phil Salt to spark great scenes of jubilation led by Hassan’s trademark fist-pumping celebration.

Down at Canterbury Ben Compton and Jordan Cox had given Kent hope of a draw after batting through the morning session on day four, but they were out for 89 and 64 respectively after lunch. Cox’s dismissal was given caught off a delivery that seemed to hit his thigh, but having been outplayed for most of the match Kent could have few complaints about the final result. Home hopes of avoiding a second consecutive defeat seemed to hinge largely on the County Championship’s leading run scorer Compton, who’d come within maybe 40 minutes of getting them out of a far tighter situation against Lancashire the previous Sunday. He had scored 37 of the home side’s overnight tally of 78 for three, but they were still 269 behind when play resumed. Abbas found his edge when he was on 49, but the chance didn’t carry and he took a single from the next ball to reach his half-century. Cox, on three overnight, played and missed at Barker when on 13 and a googly from Mason Crane somehow eluded his stumps and went for four byes, but otherwise he offered few chances and at lunch Kent were 161 for three, with the visiting bowlers getting increasingly frustrated. Keith Barker broke through 15 minutes into the afternoon session when Compton was given out caught behind to a leg side delivery. Whether it was out of disappointment or anger, Compton was shaking his head as he trudged back to the pavilion and Ollie Robinson was out for nine in the next over. The skipper hit Organ for boundaries off the first two balls but edged the third to Ben Brown.

By now Organ was extracting some serious turn, but Darren Stevens brought up 200 for Kent when he swiped him for six and Cox hit Abbas through cow corner to pass fifty for the second time in the match, before he was judged out caught by Joe Weatherley at short leg, although the batter remained unmoved for some time. Mohammad Abbas then accounted for Matt Milnes, who misjudged a pull shot and was caught by Weatherley for 13. Hamid Qadri joined Stevens and survived until tea, at which point Kent were 287 for seven, but he fell to the third ball after the restart, edging Abbott behind for 11. Abbott’s next ball removed Nathan Gilchrist for a golden duck, caught by Weatherley at short leg. Jackson Bird hit Abbott’s hat-trick ball for four but he was lbw to the next delivery, leaving Stevens unbeaten on 41 as Hampshire celebrated raucously on the pitch.‌

James Vince said after the game on local radio:

"Every day we've done exactly what we needed to do, obviously big runs with the bat - the top order got runs and then the guys in the middle too. They were good batting conditions but you still have to get the runs and to get that much of a lead really set the game up. We knew it was going to be hard but we had lots of options and that over from Kyle Abbott before tea, we didn't expect it to happen quite that quickly but we got the rewards for a lot of hard work and persistence over the four days."

The Guardian 25th April 2022:

“Hampshire bounced back from last week’s shellacking by the leaders to deal out an innings win of their own, Kent feeling the backlash at Canterbury. The home side won the toss and elected to bat and their innings followed a similar pattern to Somerset’s 70 miles or so to the west, Daniel Bell-Drummond with the daddy ton at No3. Keith Barker led the attack with six wickets, as the seamers shared the scalps.

But Hampshire are an ageing/experienced XI (delete as you prefer) and, coming in with the new ball blunted, all three of the middle order men with 160+ matches on their records, James Vince, Liam Dawson and Ben Brown, plundered centuries. The hosts looked deflated long before Vince decided he had enough banked and declared, 652-6 on the board at almost four and a half an over. There were yet more runs from Ben Compton, with Jordan Cox and Darren Stevens chipping in to ensure that the points were not given up lightly, but Hampshire are beginning to justify the pre-season tipsters’ confidence. They are second in the table after last week’s hiccup and are likely to have fewer international call-ups than their rivals later in the season. We will know more about Hampshire’s championship credentials after this week’s match against high-flying Lancashire, who eventually overcame a tremendous rearguard from an outclassed Gloucestershire, whose spirit did the grand old Championship proud.”