COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION ONE, Canterbury:
Kent 420 & 135 beat Essex 279 & 177 by 99 runs
Kent 24pts, Essex 5pts
Match scorecard
 Mahmood played 21 Tests and 143 one-day internationals for Pakistan |
Azhar Mahmood took five wickets to bowl struggling Kent to a 99-run victory over Essex at Canterbury. Resuming on 48-1 in pursuit of 277 to win, Essex were given hope by Matt Walker (35) and Ravi Bopara (31). But after Bopara was stumped, Walker was pinned lbw by Mahmood (5-62) to spark a collapse that saw Essex lose their last six wickets for 32 runs. The visitors were eventually bowled out for 177 as Kent climbed out of the Division One relegation zone. Essex lost Tom Westley and Jaik Mickleburgh to Amjad Khan and Mahmood respectively, but looked in contention as Bopara and Walker put together a fourth-wicket stand of 56.  | 606: DEBATE |
However, brilliant work from Kent wicketkeeper Geraint Jones, who gathered a lifting leg-cutter from Simon Cook and whipped off the bails as Bopara overbalanced, turned the game irreversibly in the home side's favour. The final Essex wickets fell in the afternoon session as first, Walker was trapped lbw by a Mahmood off-cutter, and then James Foster was run out by a Rob Key direct hit. Mahmood accounted for David Masters and Maurice Chambers, while off-spinner James Tredwell had Tim Phillips caught at slip and last man Andy Carter held at long-on to secure Kent's first home win of the season.
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