KENT V SURREY -
Specsavers County Championship - 21 May 2019
Surrey 420-9. Kent.
A maiden first-class hundred from Surrey's Will
Jacks and a four-wicket haul by Kent debutant Wiaan Mulder made for
three contrasting sessions as these Division One neighbours tussled
for supremacy on the opening day of their Specsavers County
Championship clash in Beckenham.
By stumps Surrey had reached 420 for nine after
Jacks had dominated mid-afternoon proceedings with an eye-catching
120 that left Kent's attack struggling to find an effective
containment plan.
A tall right-hander playing only his 12th
first-class match, Jacks found himself in the thick of the action
well before lunch as Surrey, having opted to bat first, slid to 65
for five with 17 overs of the start.
The product of St George's College, Weybridge,
Jacks dug in to turn the tide Surrey's way with a 175-run
sixth-wicket stand in tandem with Scott Borthwick.
Batting in seemingly ideal conditions in
Metropolitan Kent - the hosts wanted first use as well had they won
the toss - Surrey's top-order made a mess of their early work.
Openers Mark Stoneman and Rory Burns reached 29
after six overs before Stoneman pressed the self-destruct button.
Pushing to mid-wicket the left-hander set off wanting a single only
to be sent back by Burns and lose the race to regain his ground to
an underarm, direct hit by Mulder.
Three overs later Burns followed his partner back
to the pavilion. Walking across his stumps to a good length
leg-cutter from Harry Podmore, Burns edged to the keeper Ollie
Robinson.
Matt Milnes struck with his second delivery of the
game, running one up the slope and away from the prodding defensive
push of South Africa left-hander Dean Elgar who was caught behind.
Mulder struck to remove Ben Foakes with a lifting
delivery that held its own against the slope to take the outside
edge and fly low to slip. Then, at the end of the same over, the
Proteas Test cap had Sam Curran caught in the gully after the Surrey
all-rounder drove with firm hands at a delivery on the line of
'fourth stump'.
Kent bowled short and offered too much width in
the mid-session allowing Surrey to counter with a flurry of fours.
Borthwick raised his 50 off 83 balls and with eight fours, while
Jacks reached the milestone from 91 balls and with 11 fours.
The pair created a sixth-wicket Surrey record for
first-class matches against Kent when they moved past the 162 set by
Miles Howell and Percy Fender at The Oval in 1922.
Shortly before tea and only five runs short of his
century, Borthwick's decision to sweep against the off-spin of Adam
Riley proved terminal as umpire Graham Lloyd upheld the bowler's leg
before appeal.
After the resumption Jacks, who hit three previous
championship half-centuries from only four innings this season,
moved effortlessly to three figures from 164 balls and with 19
fours.
He mustered one more boundary before his four-hour
innings came to an end. Having added 74 in tandem with Rikki Clarke,
Jacks feathered an attempted off drive against Mulder to be caught
at the wicket for 120 off 194 balls.
Podmore took the second new ball, but Clarke took
that as his cue to put bat to ball, reaching a fluent 50 from 60
balls with eight fours. By the close, the 37-year-old was on the
cusp of his 18th first-class ton with an unbeaten 87.
Morne Morkel, the former South Africa and Kent
paceman, tried to follow Clarke's lead only to miscue to mid-off and
give Mulder his fourth wicket of the day.
Robinson pouched a fourth catch when Gareth Batty
chased a Darren Stevens away-swinger late in the day.
Jacks, Surrey's century-maker, said: "It was
a really nice day because scoring a championship hundred was
something I really wanted to tick off this season. It was really
pleasing to achieve that, even more so for us to get through until
stumps with 400 on the board having been five down after the opening
hour.
"Really happy for myself, 'Badger' Borthwick
and Rikki too, and I hope we can now take that momentum into the
next couple of days.
"I just had to get through that first period
before lunch and after that it got a bit easier as their bowlers
tired. I just took it over by over with the hope we could bat as
deep into the day as possible.
"Every time you go out to bat against a new
ball it's going to nip around, you know that's a given. Sometimes
you play and miss, other times you nick it. That's cricket, so today
I had my little bit of luck."
Mulder, the pick of the Kent attack with four
wickets, said: "We had them five down early on but we didn't
bowl as well in the last two sessions of the day.
"I bowled too many bad balls later in the day
but that's something I can learn from. But overall I felt it was a
good cricket wicket.
"The ball nipped around to start off and then
the older it got it started to swing, which was really interesting
for me and something I'm really not used to back at home. That's
another thing for me to get used to.
"As I said, it's a pretty decent pitch, so
I'm hoping there are plenty of runs left in it for me and the rest
of the Kent guys tomorrow."
TEA REPORT
A modest first-day crowd at Beckenham witnessed a
tale of two sessions to the opening of Kent's Specsavers County
Championship clash with Division One rivals Surrey.
Having slid to 65 for five in the morning session,
Surrey re-grouped to go in at tea sitting fairly comfortably on 260
for six after 64 overs with Will Jacks on a career-best 93 together
with Rikki Clarke on eight.
Having lunched on 91 for five, Surrey made
steadier progress after the resumption as Scott Borthwick and Jacks
teamed up to add 175 for the sixth wicket.
In the mid-session Kent were guilty of bowling
short and offering too much width allowing Surrey to counter with a
flurry of fours. Borthwick raised his 50 off 83 balls and with eight
fours while Jacks got the milestone from 91 balls and with 11 fours.
The pair created a sixth-wicket Surrey record for
first-class matches against Kent when they moved past the 162 set by
Miles Howell and Percy Fender at The Oval in 1922.
Shortly before tea and only five runs short of his
century, Borthwick's decision to sweep against the off-spin of Adam
Riley proved terminal as umpire Graham Lloyd raised the finger to
uphold the bowler's leg before appeal.
LUNCH REPORT
Kent bounced back from Friday's battling defeat to
Yorkshire in Canterbury by taking five Surrey wickets on the opening
morning of their Specsavers County Championship clash Beckenham.
Though Surrey opted to bat after winning the toss,
the visitors went into lunch struggling on 91 for five after Wiann
Mulder - the South Africa all-rounder making his Kent debut -
starred by taking two for 24 and running out Mark Stoneman. Surrey's
unbeaten batsmen were Scott Borthwick with 30 and Will Jacks on
nine.
Surrey openers Stoneman and Rory Burns had few
issues in reaching 29 after six overs when Stoneman, with his score
on 19, pressed the self-destruct button.
Pushing to mid-wicket, the left-hander set off
wanting a single only to be sent back by Burns and lose the race to
regain his ground to the underarm, direct hit by Mulder.
Three overs later Burns followed his partner back
to the pavilion for 14. Walking across his stumps to a good length
leg-cutter from Harry Podmore, Burns edged to the keeper Ollie
Robinson.
Darren Stevens gave way at the Beckenham End for
Matt Milnes to strike with his second delivery. Running one up the
slope and away from the prodding defensive push of South Africa
left-hander Dean Elgar who followed the movement to be caught
behind.
In his third over Mulder struck to remove Ben
Foakes for five with a lifting delivery that held its own against
the slope to take the outside edge and fly low to slip. Then, five
balls later, Mulder had Sam Curran caught in the gully after the
Surrey all-rounder drove with firm hands at a delivery on the line
of 'fourth stump'.
Kent, who went into the game fifth in Division One
and ten points ahead of sixth-placed Surrey, made three changes to
the side that took on Yorkshire last week. Mulder replaced Matt
Renshaw as overseas professional, while seamers Mitch Claydon and
Fred Klaassen gave way for veteran all-rounder Stevens and
off-spinner Adam Riley.
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