County Championship: Gloucestershire on top against Kent

Ben Compton led a rearguard action for Kent on day two of their County Championship game with Gloucestershire at Canterbury, steering the hosts to 318-7 at stumps, a deficit of 154.

Compton passed 3,000 first-class runs for Kent on his way to 144 not out, with a fluid innings that again belied his reputation as a dour strokemaker. Grant Stewart made 51 before he fell to Ollie Price in the final over.

Earlier James Bracey made 151 not out as Gloucestershire posted 472.

Kent’s Nathan Gilchrist took career best figures of 7-100, but the visitors’ total was turbo-charged when number 11 Marchant de Lange hit a blistering 51 from 27 balls.

Gloucestershire resumed on 365-7 and despite losing Josh Shaw to the third ball of the morning, top-edging Gilchrist to Ben Compton at deep-fine leg, they dominated for the next hour.

Cameron Green, who had retired on 100 with cramp on day one, came back in and moved to 112 before Gilchrist trapped him lbw, but de Lange came in and assaulted the bowlers, clubbing Jas Singh for two huge sixes over long on.

He pushed Jack Leaning for a single through cover to reach his sixth first-class 50 before he finally holed out to the same bowler and was caught by Tawanda Muyeye.

Kent’s reply got off to a grim start when Zak Crawley went for one. He edged Tom Price to first slip, where Cameron Green dropped the ball onto his foot and it looped up for Bracey to complete the catch. Crawley walked while the umpires were still conferring.

Ben Compton and Daniel Bell-Drummond steered Kent to 49-1 at lunch but de Lange then got the latter 37, caught at second slip by Cameron Bancroft.

Tawanda Muyeye was out for six, the victim of a brilliant diving catch by Ollie Price when he tried to cut Shaw. Leaning was then dropped when he was on seven after edging Tom Price to Bancroft, but he failed to cash in and was lbw for 16 to Ben Charlesworth’s third ball.

Charlesworth then had Joey Evison caught behind off the very next delivery leaving Harry Finch to survive the hat-trick ball.

Finch, batting despite a hand injury that forced substitute Chris Benjamin to keep wicket, helped Kent to 188-5 at tea, but he fell to an astonishing catch by Ollie Price soon afterwards.

Having made 44, Finch pulled de Lange to backward square-leg. The fielder didn’t look like getting anywhere near it, but grabbed it one-handed in mid air and somehow held on when thudded to the turf.

Compton brought up his hundred when he drove Tom Price for four and didn’t really offer a chance until he edged Charlesworth between Bracey and first slip when he was already on 131.

Stewart, also batting despite the unspecified injury that prevented him from bowling, took a single from Ollie Price to reach his half-century from 62 balls, but in the final over the same bowler had him caught by Miles Hammond at first slip to leave Kent five runs short of the follow-on target at stumps.

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