County and Kent share draw

Date: Tuesday 09 June 2009

Final day: Leicestershire (9pts) 403-9d (Dippenaar 89, New 85*, Ackerman 67, Cook 5-78) drew with Kent (9 pts) 265-2d (Denly 116*, Jones 87).

Leicestershire and Kent played out an inevitable draw on the final day at Grace Road, each taking nine points from the contest.

After rain washed out the opening two days of play, both sides knew they had to take what they could from the game, and Tom New’s unbeaten 85 took County past maximum points in the first passage of play this morning.

The issue was still in the balance at 387-9, but Harry Gurney hung around to help the team past the magical 400-mark for the first time this season.

County then looked for bowling points, but after Gurney bowled a beauty to dismiss Sam Northeast, Joe Denly (116*) and Geraint Jones (87) shared 181 for the second wicket as the batsmen continued to dominate the play that did take place in the match.

With light closing in, Kent declared their second knock in the final hour with the score on 265-2, as the teams were unable to get back out onto the field because of the gloom.

That meant points were shared in the game at nine apiece, which was about right given the batsmen looked in control for the large part on a flat wicket.

Earlier in the day, New and Wayne White took the side towards 400, but Simon Cook (5-78) continued his good form to leave the side with work to do.

Both looked to be positive in their stand to give the bowlers maximum time to attempt to get some more points, but Cook kept things in check.

The bowler had White caught by Justin Kemp in the slips for 14, and when Claude Henderson chopped one back to complete Cook’s five-for, 14 runs were still needed for the final batting point.

Robbie Joseph nipped one back off the seam to trap AJ Harris plumb in front with no stroke offered, but New and Gurney got the full allocation, thanks also to two helpings of four byes when the score was on 395.

That also meant the extras passed 50 – including 30 no-balls and eight wides in total - and Kent will not be pleased with that tally, which did not help their cause.

In their first and only innings, Kent struggled early on as Harris and Gurney probed away.

Denly and Northeast were determined to battle through the opening, and Claude Henderson also kept things tight when he came into the attack before lunch.

With no wicket before the interval, Kent had laid a platform for the innings as they looked to up the tempo as the day progressed.

It was important that the visitors were kept in check, and Gurney got County on the board with the score on 57,

The left-armer, who signed a new contract with the club to take him through to the end of the 2010 season yesterday, extracted real bounce to force Northeast to nick behind, despite his attempts to leave the rising delivery.

However, that was as good as it got for the team as Denly and Jones batted superbly.

The young opener played all around the wicket, and moved to 50 from 123 balls with a fine late cut for four, which was his eighth boundary at that point.

Those statistics showed he worked hard for his runs early on, but Jones was more aggressive from word go, happy to hit any loose balls that came his way.

His half-century came from 75 balls with eleven fours and a six, and Denly also upped the rate as his innings went on.

The batsman hit three sixes over wide mid-wicket between 50 and his century, taking just another 55 balls to reach the milestone.

Denly also hit three more fours in that tally, and went on to post an excellent unbeaten 116.

County did claim a second wicket before the close, with Jones run out by an accurate throw by HD Ackerman.

Paul Nixon completed the work by whipping off the bails, and the former England ‘keeper fell for an entertaining 87.

Martin van Jaarsveld moved onto 13 not out in support of Denly, but with both sides looking to register more bonus points in the final hour of play, the light closed in to force the abandonment of the game.

It was a disappointing way to end a game that had started in the same fashion with no play possible for such a long time, and that ruined what could well have been an intriguing match.

The team now have a welcome few days to prepare for their next Championship game after a hectic period of the season with Twenty20, and that match starts a week today (Tuesday) against Surrey.