A fluent century from Tawanda Muyeye guided Kent to a two-wicket victory over Gloucestershire on the ultimate day of an absorbing County Championship Division Two battle on the Seat Distinctive Stadium, Bristol.
The house facet started the day by including 11 runs to their in a single day second innings complete of 251-9, Ed Middleton final man out for 22, to set a victory goal of 261. James Taylor claimed the ultimate wicket for a return of 4-54 and match figures of 10-106 on his Kent debut.
Kent slipped to 24-2 earlier than Muyeye adopted up his 90 within the first innings with 108 off 129 balls, receiving good help from Daniel Bell-Drummond (38) and Chris Benjamin (42) as their facet posted 261-8. Gabe Bell claimed 4-87.
The guests took 21 factors from their second Championship victory of the season, whereas Gloucestershire needed to accept 5 from a fourth defeat in 5 matches.
Play started in overcast situations and Bell shortly boosted Gloucestershire’s complete with successive boundaries off Keith Dudgeon earlier than Middleton performed throughout the road to Taylor and edged to Sam Northeast at second slip.
It meant career-best match figures for 25-year-old Taylor, making the primary look of a two-match mortgage from Surrey. However, on a superb pitch nonetheless rewarding good batting and bowling, Kent knew they confronted a difficult process to attain the required runs.
They’d progressed to 22 within the fifth over when Ben Dawkins drove at a full ball from Bell and was effectively caught low down at level by Ben Charlesworth. Two runs later Zak Crawley, on 17, departed in disappointing vogue, bowled by Bell aiming a giant shot into the leg facet.
Gloucestershire hopes of urgent house their benefit have been then thwarted by Northeast and Muyeye, the latter occurring the counter-attack to strike three fours in a Matt Taylor over. Will Williams completed a testing six-over opening spell with figures of 1-9, however by the point rain interrupted play at 12:35 BST Kent had superior to 64-2 from 18 overs, with Muyeye on 32.
Northeast was on solely 4 and the second ball of the resumption at 13:45 noticed him pinned lbw pushing half ahead to Williams. With the floodlights shining brightly below darkish clouds, Kent’s center order confronted a tricky project.
Muyeye went to his second fifty of the match, off 60 balls, with 9 fours, having appeared in assured kind from the beginning. He discovered an equally strong accomplice in skipper Bell-Drummond and the pair step by step put their workforce in a robust place.
Bell-Drummond hit six crisp boundaries earlier than being bowled pushing ahead defensively to Bell. At 146-4, Kent nonetheless required 115 and a compelling recreation was again within the stability.
Each Muyeye and Benjamin had appeared in good nick within the first innings and once more they tilted issues Kent’s manner by shifting the rating to 173-4 at tea. The ultimate session noticed Muyeye deliver up an entertaining hundred along with his seventeenth 4, guided by way of backward level off Williams.
Having narrowly missed out on three figures within the first innings, the 25-year-old leapt up and punched the air earlier than elevating each bat and helmet in direction of the skies. However the job was not accomplished when he perished quickly afterwards, caught behind driving at Matt Taylor.
At 204-5, Kent nonetheless wanted 57. That had grow to be 30 when Benjamin’s second essential innings of the sport got here to an finish, bowled by Bell off an inside edge. Ekansh Singh made 18 earlier than being caught at brief mid-wicket off Williams and Dudgeon departed to a poor shot, skying a top-edge off the identical bowler, earlier than Joey Evison and Taylor noticed Kent over the road.
Taylor hit the successful boundary off Williams to finish a match he’ll lengthy bear in mind.
