| LV= County Championship Group Three, The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence, Canterbury (day two): |
| Kent 307: Stevens 190; van der Gugten 4-34, Neser 4-67 |
| Glamorgan 55-2 |
| Glamorgan (3 pts) trail Kent (3 pts) by 252 runs with eight wickets standing |
| Scorecard |
An astonishing onslaught from veteran Kent all-rounder Darren Stevens turned the match against Glamorgan on its head as he smashed a remarkable 190.
He hit 15 fours and 15 sixes to take Kent from 128-8 to 307 all out at wind-battered Canterbury.
Miguel Cummins contributed a single to their ninth-wicket stand of 166.
Glamorgan struggled to 55-2 as Stevens continued his dominance of the day by removing Marnus Labuschagne for 11 runs.
Stevens’ performance with the bat looked at first like a few defiant late blows after pacemen Michael Neser and Timm van der Gugten ripped through the Kent batting with four wickets apiece, with captain Sam Billings falling for 11 to a borderline lbw decision on his return from the Indian Premier League.
But once he got his eye in, Stevens cleared the ropes seemingly at will around the ground from fine-leg to extra-cover, to delight the shivering home supporters in bleak conditions.
It was a superb performance in any context, let alone one in which most of his team-mates struggled to contribute anything significant.
He was dropped at slip on 67 and twice on the boundary edge in the 130s as he toyed with the Glamorgan bowling, Cummins left to play just a ball or two in each over.
Stevens established a new world record for domination of a first-class partnership of more than 100.
Labuschagne, with his eccentric leg-spin, eventually had Stevens caught at long-on and bowled Cummins for 7, but the momentum gained by the Stevens spectacular carried on when the visitors went in to bat.
After David Lloyd fell cheaply to Matt Quinn, Stevens quickly turned the tables on the Australian Test star to dismiss him lbw for 11 for the second time this season, Labuschagne looking as frustrated with the decision as Billings had before him.
Joe Cooke and Billy Root dug in to survive to the close with bad light finally coming to the visitors’ rescue.
Kent’s Darren Stevens told BBC Radio Kent:
“We were in a tough situation and all I was worried about was trying to hit a boundary in the first three balls and then get off strike. I thought they did it poorly really, I thought they could have brought a man in.
“We got into a bit of a routine, a bit of a rhythm, it actually worked quite well for a few overs and I’ve probably got us into quite a good situation.
“I tried to use the wind as much as I could because it was tough out there, I tried to use it to our advantage. As long as I got it aerial and high I thought the wind would take it with it, that was my thought process.
(On crowds being back) “It was good just to get bums on seats, it feels like a proper game now, where the last year or so, I know they’ve been first class games but it’s not felt the same. The lads said to me ‘Oh the crowds come in and you show up, don’t you!’ To get 190 is just remarkable really, I’m just pleased I’ve got us into a good situation and hopefully we’ll bowl well tomorrow.”
Glamorgan assistant coach David Harrison told BBC Sport Wales:
“Darren played well very there as he’s done numerous times in the past against numerous teams- unfortunately for us after a really good morning with the ball he took a few risks and it came off.
“The way the boys bowled to get them 120-odd for eight was outstanding but Darren Stevens got the better of us.
“He got some good shots away and then it all happened very quickly, we missed a couple of chances in the outfield, but fair play it was an exceptional innings.
“I’ve never known a day to be so windy but credit to players of both teams who got on with it, it was gloomy with rain in the air so to get to 55-2 was a good effort.”
Article courtesy of BBC Sport
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