MATCH REPORT: Balderson burst gives Lancs early advantage
Lancashire and Kent battled hard for a first day advantage in this Vitality County Championship match that finished with the hosts having the better of the proceedings with the visitors on 203 for seven from the 69 overs possible.
Joey Evison shored up the Kent batting with an unbeaten half century, his third fifty of the season, after they had been reduced to 83 for five with George Balderson taking three wickets in 28 balls.
Nathan Lyon added a brace of wickets in the afternoon as Kent enjoyed better fortunes on a tricky day for the batting side before rain in the late afternoon ended the day early at 4.50pm.
The morning session divided somewhat neatly into two halves.
The first hour saw Ben Compton and Zak Crawley made a cautious and steady start after Keaton Jennings had put Kent into bat on an overcast morning and with the floodlights switched on from the start of play.
The Kent opening pair had put on 45 runs during the first hour and were happy to pick their shots, Crawley getting off the mark second ball with a back foot square drive for four, but in the main content to play with care on a seaming pitch.
Two terrific spells by Will Williams and Balderson in the second hour changed the complexion of the day considerably.
Balderson had beaten the outside edge of both batters repeatedly and was finally rewarded when Compton edged behind to wicketkeeper Matty Hurst for 13.
Crawley went on the attack, taking three consecutive fours off Balderson in the 20th over, but then edged the first ball of the 21st from Williams to Hurst attempting a big, booming drive at a ball outside off stump to depart for 41.
Balderson snared two more quick wickets squaring up Daniel Bell-Drummond, who edged to George Bell at third slip for 3, and Jack Leaning bowled by a pitched-up delivery for 4 that the batsman played all around with Kent suddenly 76 for four at lunch.
Williams increased the visitor’s woes straight after the break by trapping Harry Finch lbw for 3 with an in-swinging delivery.
Given the success of the seam attack, Nathan Lyon and Tom Hartley had to be content to wait until the afternoon for their first spells of the day and it was Lyon who struck next.
Joe Denly and Evison had regrouped to add 46 runs for the sixth wicket, with Evison playing some eye-catching drives.
Lyon, with three fielders stationed on the boundary at long-on, midwicket and deep square leg then tempted Denly into taking on a big hit that fell just short of the rope and into the hands of a clearly delighted Red Rose skipper Jennings at long-on for 18.
Evison and Grant Stewart continued the visitor’s fightback with another good alliance that had added 55 runs by tea, Stewart bringing up the fifty partnership off 92 balls when hitting the first six of the match off Hartley.
But Kent suffered a further blow following a brief stoppage for rain when Stewart edged Lyon to Luke Wells at slip for 45, two overs before rain brought an early close.
“That was a good day,” said George Balderson.
“When you choose to bowl first you want to make some early inroads into their top order and I thought we did that well this morning.
“We went through periods of the day where we had little luck. We beat the bat a lot and had a few close decisions turned down.
“We stuck at it, toiled away and in the end I think we can be proud of our efforts today.
“We’ve spoken a lot in the last few weeks about having patience with the ball and bowling in partnerships. Try to back each other up and stick to the task. I thought we did that very well this morning.
“They were 40 for none, we were beating the bat a lot and it could be easy to go away from the initial plan and try something different. But we stuck with the plan, knew it was going to work on that pitch and we got our rewards later on for it.”
Balderson bowled a superb spell in the second hour of the day to put Kent in trouble.
“I felt in good rhythm today,” he added.
“There’s a little bit more grass on the pitch than we’re used to and having the lights on seemed to help. We had to hit the top of off stump and that suits my style of bowling.
“I’m proud of the effort from everyone. I was the one who ended picking up three wickets, but it could be anyone who got all the wickets today.”
Ken Grime
Photos: George Franks & Dan Adams
