Kent Dominate Day Two in Derbyshire Match

Derbyshire 115 and 32 for 3 trail Kent 333 by 186 runs

Adam Riley and Darren Stevens set up Kent for their second LV= County Championship Division Two victory of the season by demolishing Derbyshire’s batting and forcing them to follow on at Canterbury.

Off-spinner Riley, touted as an England Test possible against India later this summer, took four for 30 as Derbyshire plunged to 115 all out in reply to Kent’s first innings 333.

At stumps Derbyshire were 32 for three in their second innings, still 186 runs behind at the end of a second day which had begun with Adam Ball and Robbie Joseph taking their ninth wicket stand to 59 as Kent added 74 runs to their overnight 259 for eight.

Stevens picked up three for 25 first time around with his medium-paced seamers, and then took the new ball when Derbyshire batted again to send back opener Paul Borrington in his second over, caught at second slip by Riley for 3 aiming a drive and Stephen Moore, lbw for 14 in his seventh over as he tried to pull a ball which kept low.

Brendan Nash, called up to bowl the last over of the day with his occasional left-arm spin, then saw nightwatchman Tom Taylor edge to Stevens at slip as he pushed defensively forward.

Borrington, indeed, fell twice to Stevens in the day. The first time he sliced to Ben Harmison at third slip on 8 soon after lunch, at the start of a Derbyshire collapse which saw them lose eight wickets in the afternoon session and four wickets for three runs in just 21 balls at the height of their slide.

Doug Bollinger, the Australian left arm fast bowler, also played his part in Derbyshire’s demise by dismissing both Moore and Wayne Madsen with the new ball. Moore edged behind on 4, cutting at the fifth ball after lunch, and Madsen was bowled for 7 off an inside edge.

Scott Elstone laboured 26 balls for his nought, before becoming the first of Riley’s victims on a dry, dusting surface which was being monitored closely by David Capel, the ECB pitch inspector. Former England all-rounder Capel was making a routine visit and had not been summoned by umpires Rob Bailey and Martin Bodenham.

Elstone was caught at slip from a ball which bounced to take his glove, while Alex Hughes and Gareth Cross also failed to score as Derbyshire’s first innings fell apart in mid-afternoon. Hughes was brilliantly caught off Stevens by Adam Ball at first slip, left-handed and low down, but Cross looked distraught at being adjudged caught off bat and pad to Riley from the first ball he faced.

Derbyshire were 56 for seven when Stevens swung one back into the left-handed David Wainwright to have him leg-before for 1, and Marcus North was cleaned up for 18 by an inswinging near-yorker from Joseph just before tea.

Tony Palladino offered 75 minutes’ resistance before, on 24, swinging Riley straight to Joseph on the deep mid-wicket boundary and – ironically – the biggest partnership of an innings in which 29 extras was the largest contributor came when No 11 Mark Footitt slogged Riley for a six and a four to make 14 in a stand of 22 with Tom Taylor.

There was also a moment of high comedy when Footitt, stranded and prone in mid-pitch when he slipped up trying to turn back in a mix-up with Taylor, escaped a run out when Kent wicketkeeper Sam Billings could not take an awkward throw. The ball ran away into the outfield and Footitt, who had made no effort to get up as he clearly assumed he was out, scrambled to his feet and ran through for two overthrows.

Stevens said: “That’s the best day we’ve had this season as a bowling unit. The decision to enforce the follow on was a no-brainer really, with them 200-odd runs behind on first innings. It is a pitch on which you have to concentrate on whacking it on a length. It’s a bit up and down, and there was also just a bit of swing as well as seam.

“Adam Riley bowled nicely again. He was struggling a bit for a rhythm initially – a bit too much pace and then a bit too slow. But he worked it out. The conditions are such you have to be patient, and keep it simple. We now need to do the same again tomorrow, but it was good to get Stephen Moore out again this evening.”