Kent beat Pears to boost promotion hopes

Rothesay County Championship, Division Two, St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury (day four)

Kent 238: Bell-Drummond 52, Northeast 43; Taylor 3-55 & 358: Northeast 132, Crawley 54, Bell-Drummond 44; Taylor 4-68

Worcestershire 217: Lategan 59; Hasan 4-68, Milnes 3-52 & 295: D'Oliveira 103*, Cullen 45; Milnes 3-51, Hasan 3-51, Dudgeon 3-63

Kent (19 pts) beat Worcestershire (3 pts) by 84 runs

Match scorecard

Kent moved clear of their closest rivals in the County Championship Division Two promotion race with an 84-run win over Worcestershire at Canterbury.

The margin may suggest otherwise, but this was one of Kent's most dogged wins of the season, ground out despite a century from Pears captain Brett D'Oliveira.

For long periods the Pears looked like chasing down the 380 they needed to win but, after they had reached 265-5, Keith Dudgeon took three wickets in 19 balls.

Hasan Mahmud and Matt Milnes then took over as the visitors' last five wickets fell for just 30 runs, leaving D'Oliveira stranded on 103.

Kent are now 15 points clear of third-placed Northamptonshire, with three matches remaining.

Worcestershire began the final day as heavy underdogs, on 84-3, and looked comfortable early on until Hasan had Adam Hose plumb on the back pad for 38.

Wicketkeeper Henry Cullen then joined D'Oliveira for a stand that took them to 199-4 at lunch.

Their partnership of 86 was broken when Hasan switched to the Nackington Road End and bowled Cullen for 45 with the fourth ball of the afternoon session, but the momentum again swung as Matthew Waite joined D'Oliveira, who drove Dudgeon for two to bring up his century.

The pair looked comfortable until the game turned on its head when Waite chopped on to Dudgeon for 37.

The South African overseas player seemed a bowler revived, subsequently trapping Tom Taylor with one that jagged back with the final ball of the session, to make it 283-7 at tea.

Dudgeon went round the wicket to Beyers Swanepoel for the first ball after the resumption and sent his leg stump flying for a golden duck.

Hasan then took the new ball and got Ben Allison lbw for a duck, before Milnes wrapped things up when he replaced Dudgeon to have Adam Finch caught at second slip.

Second-placed Kent are now on the road to face Derbyshire on Tuesday before their final two home games against the bottom two, Lancashire and Gloucestershire.

Worcester, who now trail Kent by 40 points in fifth, now realistically need to win all their last three games to stand any chance of making the top two. They host Northants on Tuesday, then head to Durham a week later before rounding off the Division Two season at home to Derbyshire.

ECB Reporters' Network supported by Rothesay.

Kent head coach Adam Hollioake:

"I was really happy because our first session with the ball I don't think we've bowled as poorly as that in a session for a while, but I loved the way they got it together at lunchtime and had a chat amongst themselves and put it right.

"Grant Stewart's 10 overs fell from this end when the ball was soft. Waiting to try and get to the new ball again was key. And then Keith Dudgeon, who's kind of been struggling with the rhythm for a while now, getting a couple of crucial wickets when everything was against us.

"Those wickets for him definitely turned it around because he was struggling. He's really frustrated with not being able to find his best rhythm. But he's kept trucking in, he's kept turning up in training and he's wanted to put it right.

"Worcester batted really well and they tested our character. When things got hard last year, I feel like we might have caved under the pressure. But this year, every time it's got to that particular test of character, we've stood up and we've been able to win."

Worcestershire head coach Alan Richardson told BBC Hereford & Worcester:

"First and foremost it was a really good game of cricket. Both sides played some really good stuff. Looking at our performance, there were a couple of opportunities within that, but I can't really fault us too much.

"We showed an amazing amount of fight and spirit throughout. We kept going and came up against a very good Kent side who were full of confidence.

"If we could have got a 50-60 run lead, it could have looked a little bit different again. But fair play to Kent. Obviously Sam Northeast's innings in their second innings, probably the defining factor between the two sides.

"Brett's innings was absolutely outstanding. It was really impressive to watch. The way that he went about his business. I always look at Brett as a fine leader. He talks really well but he also actions really well too."