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Leicestershire need 267 on final day with 10 wickets in hand

ECB Reporters Network16-May-2019John Simpson’s first County Championship half-century for two years kept Middlesex in contention on a riveting third day against Leicestershire at Lord’s.It was 2017 the last time the doughty wicketkeeper reached such heights willow in hand, but here he was at his obdurate best, dragging his side from the mire of 114 for 8 in the wake of superb bowling from Seaxe old boy Chris Wright, who took 3 for 51, and Tom Taylor’s 3 for 74. His more than three-hour vigil saw him finish 59 not out and left Leicestershire a target of 305.However, the Foxes survived unscathed to the close, reaching 38 without loss and raising hopes of a first win for the county at Lord’s since 1980.Leicestershire began the day 257 for 9 in their first innings and added a further 11 before Tom Helm uprooted Wright’s off-stump with one which seamed in off the wicket. That gave the hosts a lead of 81, but they were soon in trouble second time around.Taylor, who only bowled six overs in the first innings because of a back niggle put that pain behind him to have Max Holden taken by Colin Ackermann at slip with just nine on the board.Sam Robson, who had come out on a king pair, played confidently for a while, but Taylor’s impressive spell accounted for him too, a little movement off the seam seeing the former England man edge to wicketkeeper Lewis Hill.Wright too was then in the action, grabbing the wicket of debutant Tom Lace before lunch, caught at slip.As in the first innings, Nick Gubbins played with increasing assurance, his cover drive, a thing of beauty, but he was undone during Wright’s impressive post-lunch burst, edging one which left him a fraction through to Hill. His departure was the first of three wickets for just three runs as Middlesex faltered.Skipper Stevie Eskinazi flashed at a loose one from Mohammad Abbas, though it needed a stunning one-handed catch at full stretch by Ackermann to send him on his way.It was 94 for 6 when Wright struck again, scattering George Scott’s stumps with a venomous Yorker.A brief lull in the procession ended when Taylor found the edge of James Harris’ bat to give Hill his sixth catch of the match. Ollie Rayner then prodded Ackermann into the hands of Hasan Azad at short-leg.At 114 for 8 Stuart Law’s men were on the ropes but, not for the first time in Middlesex colours, Simpson answered the call. His efforts relied on staunch support from Helm, who for the second time in the match produced shots belying his place at No. 10 in the order, one off-drive in particular a candidate for shot of the day on his way to 46.The pair added 85 for the ninth wicket before Helm fell lbw to Ben Mike, but last man Ethan Bamber stayed long enough to see Simpson to his long-awaited landmark and stretch the lead beyond 300.Hopes of a wicket before the close were thwarted however, with skipper Paul Horton in particular, on 28 not out, suggesting a successful final-day chase is more than possible.

The Australia captain said that in high-pressure tournaments like the World Cup, England’s ultra-aggressive approach to ODI batting could backfire

Daniel Brettig30-Jan-2018Australia captain Steven Smith has questioned whether England’s bull-at-a-gate batting approach will stand up to the pressure of a World Cup. Smith also said he wanted the Australia squad that will play five ODIs in England this year to be as close as possible to their desired 2019 World Cup combination.England’s methods, rejuvenated since their 2015 World Cup failure, place emphasis on a hyper-aggressive start with the bat, and Smith said that while it was fine in bilateral series there would be a chance of it coming unstuck during the knockout phase of a high-pressure tournament.That much was true of New Zealand three years ago; they pushed all-out attack to get as far as the 2015 World Cup final, only to fall in a heap against Australia’s pace bowlers in front of 93,013 at the MCG. Smith said that while Australia were entering a period of introspection, driven by the team’s dipping ODI fortunes, they would try to find a way suited to their playing stocks and mental approach.”I think our one-day cricket has been disappointing for just over a year now. A lot of it comes down to poor decision making, and execution out in the middle,” Smith said. “We’ve seen when we’ve played well and won games it’s been about the top four, someone there going on and getting a really big score. Then others coming in and playing quite positively around the person getting that big score. That’s the blueprint that I think works for us.”England have played a different brand of cricket where they go really hard the whole time. That can be risky as well at times, particularly in big tournaments. You might get yourselves to the semi-finals or something but you can have those days where you get bowled out for 150. There are a few things to think about in regards to one-day cricket and the way we want to play. We just haven’t been good enough, to be honest, the last couple of weeks and the last year.”[England] are clear in the way they play. They’re all very aggressive and go out there and take the game on from ball one. I don’t think our players aren’t clear, we’re just not executing it and making the right decisions at key times. If we get those decisions right, and guys are smarter in the way they play in the middle, we’ll turn things around.”Smith’s team lost the No. 1 ODI ranking they had held since winning the 2015 World Cup in February last year, and have steadily slid down the ICC’s table ever since. They now sit at No. 5, behind South Africa, India, England and New Zealand, following their 4-1 series loss to Eoin Morgan’s team.Given that Cricket Australia’s strategic goal for the national team is to be No. 1 in all three formats, the current state of affairs is causing furrowed brows at the game’s Jolimont headquarters. Smith and chairman of selectors Trevor Hohns both admitted the team’s leaders needed to refresh in terms of approach and personnel before the June series in England, which will mark more or less a year until the next World Cup.”I think that makes sense. The World Cup being in England, any exposure to those conditions with the likely squad is important,” Smith said of taking a prospective World Cup group to England. “A lot can happen in a year as well with injuries and things like that. For us, it’ll be trying to get that squad as close as what we think the World Cup is going to be.”Our middle overs with the bat have been disappointing. We’re continually losing wickets and you can’t do that anymore against good teams,” he said. “You have to have those big partnerships in the middle and let our guys who are big and strong, give them the freedom of the last 10, 15 overs to try and clear the pickets. We’ve got guys there who do it really well, we just haven’t set the game up for them to do it.”Then the first 10 overs with the ball. At times it’s felt like we’re trying to get through the 10 overs and having a deep breath, then getting the four guys out and we’re behind the game when that 10 overs are finished. We’ve been really good at pulling it back after that for a while, but we’ll make things a lot easier for ourselves if we start well with the ball.”Also speaking on Tuesday, Hohns said the series in England was a key point at which the selectors and team management needed to stabilise both the personnel and the team tactics to be used over the year that followed.”In our winter here we go to play five one-dayers against England again, so we will be trying at that stage to get a unit together that hopefully can play together and stay together leading into the World Cup,” Hohns told . “Of course form will dictate what happens there, but we’ll certainly be looking at what type of player we want to take us through to that World Cup and get them playing together.”We need to sit down and have a look at everything. Not necessarily a review, we don’t need to have a national inquiry every time we lose a series, but we’re clearly not playing well at the moment, so yes we will be assessing how we play the game and secondly what players are required to play the way we want to play and the utilisation of our players, whether we’re utilising them the right way.”Like Smith, Hohns said Australia did not need to plagiarise England. “We don’t necessarily have to copy how other teams are playing, England are playing very well, they’re a red-hot side as we know, so we’ll have a look at how they’re playing but try to develop our own style.”

KL Rahul and Bhuvneshwar Kumar will play in the next round of Ranji Trophy matches, with an eye on selection in the India side for the last three Tests against England

Arun Venugopal10-Nov-2016India opener KL Rahul and seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar will play the next round of Ranji Trophy matches beginning on November 13, after missing the major part of the New Zealand series with injuries.Bhuvneshwar confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that he would turn out for Uttar Pradesh against Mumbai in Mysore, and Karnataka coach J Arun Kumar said Rahul would join the team on November 10 ahead of their Group B clash against Rajasthan in Vizianagaram. With the tournament nearing its home stretch, both teams, especially Uttar Pradesh who are third from the bottom in Group A, will welcome the return of key players.Shikhar Dhawan is likely to play the round beginning on November 21, when Delhi play Rajasthan in Wayanad. He made 1 and 17 in the only Test he played against New Zealand, in Kolkata, before sustaining a fracture in his left thumb after being struck twice by Trent Boult on the third day. He was subsequently ruled out of the third Test in Indore and the limited-overs contests.Rahul and Bhuvneshwar haven’t played competitive cricket for over a month, and will therefore be keen to prove their match fitness in the Ranji Trophy, in line with India coach Anil Kumble’s policy. Good performances there could put them in line for selection in India’s side for the last three Tests against England.Rahul’s most recent game was the first Test against New Zealand in Kanpur, where he injured his hamstring while running between the wickets. He missed the remaining two Tests and the subsequent five-match ODI series. He has since undergone rehabilitation before being picked for the game against Mumbai.Rahul had been in fine form prior to his injury, scoring a 158 in Jamaica and a half-century in St Lucia, before smashing an unbeaten 51-ball 110 in the first T20I against West Indies in Florida. He also had a productive tour of Zimbabwe in June, when he made his ODI debut and scored 196 runs in three matches, including a century.Bhuvneshwar picked up a back strain in the second Test, in Kolkata, where his five-for in the first innings gave India a substantial lead and set up a 178-run win. It was his second five-wicket haul in three matches – the first one came against West Indies in St Lucia, which was his first Test in over 19 months.

South Africa’s Dean Elgar has voiced his displeasure with what he believed was a “result wicket” in Mohali

Sidharth Monga in Mohali05-Nov-20150:45

‘We knew India would prepare wickets like this’ – Elgar

After India’s batting coach Sanjay Bangar had repeatedly defended the track in Mohali, Dean Elgar, the opening batsman who nearly doubled his career wicket tally with a four-wicket haul, was asked what he thought of the pitch.”Honestly?” he asked, and looked hesitantly at the South Africa media manager, without drawing any reaction from her whatsoever. Then he went on regardless: “I don’t think it’s a very good cricket wicket. It is my personal opinion. It is a result wicket, which is expected when you come here. But kudos to India, they are obviously going to prepare wickets like these against us, I’m sure. And we know coming here, it was going to be very different from what we are used to. So it’s not a very good cricket wicket, but it is a result wicket, which can go either way.”It was a dry pitch, something Sunil Gavaskar said at the pitch report he had “never seen before”. The middle part of the pitch was flat and low, and the good length scuffed up, offering slow but generous turn. It negated the South Africa fast bowlers, and brought it down to spin and reverse swing. India, not quite equal to the task, squandered the advantage of batting first and were bowled out on 201.”It is a very challenging wicket,” Bangar said. “I am not saying it is a good wicket or a bad wicket, but it is a very challenging wicket wherein run-making is not easy so I would say it looks 201 on the board, but it is actually worth far more than 201.”Bangar was asked that while the home advantage exists, what he thought of the pitch offering so much turn so early in the game. “When an Indian team goes overseas, you cannot say that the extent of seam movement, or the extent of movement in the air, there should be a fixed criteria,” Bangar said. “‘Okay if it swings this much or if it seams this much then only they are the ideal conditions. The extent of spin, seam or swing is something that cannot be fixed or measured. It is a challenge for all the batsmen. Equally taking wickets or scoring runs on such tracks is an art. Players will have to apply all their skills.”I don’t think it started to spin from the first over. In the first half it really played well. Most of the wickets, if you see, they were not really [because of spin]. The ball didn’t really turn that much. I think it is a mental skill and a mental challenge for the batsmen to score runs on such wickets.”Elgar disagreed with the notion that green tracks outside Asia posed a similar challenge. “Well I’m sure it has its flip side as well,” Elgar said. “I would think that generally when cricket is played on a green wicket, it lasts longer than it does on a spinning wicket. But yeah, I’m not really talking too much about this wicket. Mentioned what I wanted to mention and that’s it.”When asked to compare it with the tracks in Sri Lanka and what he tried to do on this pitch, Elgar said all he had to do in Mohali was land it in “half-decent” areas. “It [the pitch] is a lot different,” Elgar said. “It is like a day-four wicket now, the way I see it. So I batted on day one in Sri Lanka most days. So it is a lot different.”With regards to my bowling, I think a lot of times when the batters face me, they don’t want to go after me, and they become a little tentative. Fortunately the wicket had broken up quite a bit and there was quite a bit of rough. I just tried to land in a half-decent area. It worked out for me. I’m thankful that the batters were a little tentative against me, which is quite nice and worked in my favour and hopefully I can carry on.”The pitch has been a matter of much speculation leading up to the Test, not least because of India’s recent demands for tracks that turn from ball one. The Indian camp remained tight-lipped about how the pitch was likely to behave, or even whether they were satisfied with what Daljit Singh, the Mohali curator, had rolled out for them. There was a long conversation between the team leadership – Virat Kohli and the assistant coaches – and Daljit three days before the Test after which brushes made of intertwined coir rope were used to dust parts of the surface. A groundsman said this was being done to bring some sheen to the surface. It must also be kept in mind this surface has not been relaid for 23 years.Daljit is perhaps the only curator in the country who takes the reporters next to the pitch and explains to them the nature of the track and how it is expected to behave. This time, though, for some reason, he had that customary chat at the edge of the square, which meant nobody was allowed to see the pitch in the lead-up to the Test. Daljit was also uncharacteristically cagey about predicting the behaviour of the pitch.

Ahmed Amla, the Dolphins and KwaZulu-Natal batsman, has announced his decision to retire from all cricket

Firdose Moonda18-Apr-2013Ahmed Amla, the Dolphins and KwaZulu-Natal batsman, has announced his decision to retire from all cricket. His agent said Amla was retiring to focus on his studies and pursue business interests.Amla, 33, is the older brother of South African batsman Hashim Amla, although the two have had vastly different cricket careers. Ahmed never earned an international cap, although he hovered close to it through much of his career.He made his first-class debut in 1997, at the age of 18, for Natal B. That season, he was picked in the South African Development XI that toured Namibia, and in the next season for the South African under-19 team. That earned him a spot at the national academy and helped establish himself as a regular in the Kwa-Zulu Natal provincial, and later Dolphins, franchise team, which he also captained for some time.In the 2004-05 season, when the domestic franchise system was formed, his batting average reached 40 for the first time. He lifted it to 48.27 the next summer, when he was probably closest to playing for South Africa. With competition for places high, he had to settle for leading the South African A side, for whom he made numerous appearances.Amla career did not take off as his brother’s did and did not reach the highs of that season again. He remained an important part of the Dolphins batting, especially as he was one of their most senior players. His mentorship skills were also put to use in Mozambique, where he was a consultant for their national side.This season he struggled to make the franchise team and had to settle for playing in the second-tier provincial division. With the knowledge that he was keeping out younger players, Amla chose to pull down the curtain on his playing career.He may not be lost to the sport altogether. He has been on commentary stints with the national broadcaster, SABC, and may yet further his coaching ambitions. He is also studying towards a business degree.Hashim Amla led the tributes to his brother. “Special special congrats to my bro @ahmedamla retiring from all cricket today.wonderful player n more so an amazing person,” he tweeted. “@ahmedamla thx 4being a pillar of support throughout my entire career.will mis u on d field bro.time 4the backyard games 2resume.”

Runako Morton, the West Indies batsman, has died in a road accident on Sunday, police have confirmed. Morton, 33, crashed into a utility pole on the Solomon Hochoy Highway in Chase Village in central Trinidad

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Mar-2012Runako Morton, the West Indies batsman, has died in a road accident on Sunday, police have confirmed. Morton, 33, crashed into a utility pole on the Solomon Hochoy Highway in Chase Village in central Trinidad.He was on his way home from a cricket match, and was the sole occupant of the vehicle. The accident occurred at around 11pm local time. When news spread about his death, many of his team-mates posted condolence messages on Twitter, like Wavell Hinds: “Gone far too soon brother Runako. I will treasure the great memories for sure. R.I.P. God knows best.” Rayad Emrit, Morton’s Trinidad team-mate, tweeted: “R.I.P. Morton. You’ll always be remembered buddy. Gone but NEVER forgotten. We miss you bro.”Julian Hunte, the president of the West Indies Cricket Board, sent his condolences: “Runako’s passing, still in the prime of life, leaves us all in shock,” Hunte said. “He will be remembered as a fierce competitor on the field who gave no quarter whether he was playing for West Indies, Leeward Islands, Nevis or Trinidad and Tobago.”Morton played 15 Tests and 56 ODIs for West Indies, with his last appearance for his country coming against Australia in a Twenty20 international in 2010. He underachieved as a Test batsman, scoring 573 runs at an average of 22.03 with four half-centuries. He had a better record as a one-day player, scoring 1519 runs at an average of 33.75 with two centuries and ten fifties.Morton’s career was blotted by disciplinary breaches. He was expelled from the West Indian Academy in July 2001, and a year later was called up to the injury-plagued West Indies squad as a replacement for Marlon Samuels. He pulled out of the ICC Champions Trophy in September 2002, after lying about the death of his grandmother. His career slipped further when he was arrested (though released without charge) in January 2004, following a stabbing incident.
His maiden ODI century (110*) came in a losing cause against New Zealand in 2006. Two months later, he scored another century, but in a washed-out contest against Zimbabwe in Trinidad. However, one of his most significant one-day knocks was his match-winning unbeaten 90 against Australia in the 2006 Champions Trophy.His in-and-out career continued with a recall for the 2007 England trip and he made runs against Zimbabwe later that year but his form never remained consistent. His most recent fifty was the unbeaten 85 against India at Kingston in 2009. His last Test appearance came in 2008 against Australia in Antigua.Morton was one of the few players from the tiny island of Nevis to play Tests for West Indies. He represented Leeward Islands from his debut in 1996-97 till 2009-10, when he shifted base to Trinidad and Tobago. He scored 4104 first-class runs for Leewards at 44.60 with 11 centuries and 25 fifties. He played five first-class matches for Trinidad, scoring 189 runs.Edited by Kanishkaa Balachandran

Jamaica became only the second side to capture four successive four-day regional championships

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Apr-2011
Scorecard
Nikita Miller helped Jamaica earn their fourth title in a row•Getty Images

Jamaica made it four four-day Regional Championships in a row with a comfortable 8-wicket win over Combined Colleges & Campuses inside two days at the Three Ws Oval in Bridgetown. Having taken a 113-run first-innings lead, Jamaica’s spinners, Nikita Miller and Odean Brown, triggered a spectacular collapse after CCC had reached 56 for no loss. Miller began the slide by bowling Romel Currency for 23, after which CCC proceeded to lose their next nine wickets for 63 runs in less than two sessions.Miller ended up with 4 for 33, the day’s best figures, while Brown took 4 for 54 to go with 3 for 34 in the first innings, earning the Man-of-the-Match award. West Indies allrounder Andre Russell took the other two wickets.Jamaica, who had begun the day on 106 for 3, were bowled out for 225 with captain Tamar Lambert top scoring with 41. It was the spinners who did the damage for CCC as well, with offspinner Ryan Austin taking four for 81 and left-arm spinner Kavesh Kantasingh 4 for 89.The only other team in history to win four consecutive titles in regional first-class cricket was Barbados when they won the Shell Shield from 1977 to 1980.”This is a tremendous result for us as a team and for our nation Jamaica,” captain Tamar Lambert said after collecting the Headley/Weekes trophy. “From the start of the season we said we were looking to make it four straight and we did it in style here today. We proved we are the strongest team. We all worked hard and we played well together as a unit. I always stress on team unity and I’m happy the guys played well and won the trophy.”

It went down to the last ball at the National Stadium as Hasan Raza kept his cool under pressure to guide Sind Dolphins home by three wickets in a high-scorer against Baluchistan Bears

Cricinfo staff20-Apr-2010
ScorecardIt went down to the last ball at the National Stadium as Hasan Raza kept his cool under pressure to guide Sind Dolphins home by three wickets in a high-scorer against Baluchistan Bears. Chasing 304, the Dolphins were boosted by a strong opening stand, then lost their way, recovered again through a fifty-run stand between Raza and Sarfraz Ahmed and then fought against the asking rate. Raza however ensured he stayed right till the end with 78 to finish the job.The match had the makings of a high-scorer when the Bears duo of Taufeeq Umer and Abid Ali added a massive 147 for Baluchistan’s second wicket. Taufeeq hit five fours in his 74 but Abid was the more aggressive of the pair, hitting 11 fours in his 94. The Dolphins hit back to take three wickets for 11 runs, with Danish Kaneria picking up two of those. The lower order then rallied around Rameez Alam, who scored a quick 52 off 35 balls to take the score past 300. Anwar Ali took three wickets but was hammered for 72 off his ten overs.The Dolphins were given a boost by their openers, Shahzaib Hasan and Khurram Manzoor, who added 110 in just under 19 overs. Much like in the first innings, a century stand was followed by a wicket burst as the Dolphins lost three wickets for five runs. Sarfraz and Raza came together in the 26th over and added 71 to put them back on track. Lal Kumar eased the pressure off Raza with a breezy 27 off 14 balls after Sarfraz departed. But Dolphins were left to play catch-up in the final stages and when the last over began, they needed more than a run a ball. Raza levelled the scores off the penultimate ball and sealed the win with a boundary.

Bilal Sami replaces Saleem in Afghanistan’s squad for the three-match series in Abu Dhabi

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Oct-2025Afghanistan’s right-arm fast bowler Mohammad Saleem has been ruled out of the upcoming three-match ODI series against Bangladesh in Abu Dhabi due to a groin (adductor) overload.As a result, Saleem will report to the ACB’s High Performance Center for rehabilitation, a release by the Afghanistan Cricket Board said.In Saleem’s place, right-arm medium-pace bowler Bilal Sami will be joining Afghanistan’s squad for the ODIs against Bangladesh.Twenty-three-year-old Saleem has played two ODIs so far, with both of those matches coming against Bangladesh in July 2023. He last played for Afghanistan in his solitary Test, which was against Sri Lanka in Colombo in February 2024.Saleem’s replacement Sami, meanwhile, has played for Afghanistan only once, which was on ODI debut against Zimbabwe in December 2024. Sami, 21, has played 25 List A games, where he has 44 wickets at an average of 25.72. He represented Afghanistan Under-19 at the World Cup in 2022, where he got four wickets in five matches.Sami was recently in action at the Ghazi Amanullah Khan Regional One Day Tournament, Afghanistan’s domestic List A competition, which ended in September. There, he was his team Speen Ghar Region’s second-highest wicket-taker with ten wickets at an average of 22.90, and an economy rate of 4.97.Afghanistan’s first ODI against Bangladesh will take place on Wednesday, October 8.

Whirlwind hundred against former team leaves Kent facing final-day fight to save game

ECB Reporters Network14-Apr-2024Essex 530 for 7 dec and 254 for 7 (Cox 116*) lead Kent 413 (Compton 165, Bell-Drummond 135, Critchley 5-105) by 374 runs Jordan Cox pulverised his former Kent team-mates with a whirlwind century as Essex piled on the runs towards a declaration in the Vitality County Championship at Chelmsford.Cox, 23, reached his first three-figure score for his new county with a mighty six over square leg, one of six sixes in an unbeaten 116 as Essex raced to 257 for 4 and a lead of 374 in 40 over in a lengthy evening session. The fast accumulation of runs was necessary with rain and high winds forecast for the final day.Earlier Ben Compton had weighed anchor for more than eight-and-a-half hours to help Kent avoid the follow-on by 33 runs. The obdurate left-hander was last man out for 165, his highest score for Kent, eked from 263 balls and spliced sparingly with 18 boundaries.That Essex were able to get so close to asking Kent to go straight back in was due to an inspired spell from legspinning allrounder Matt Critchley, following up his career-high 151 with 5 for 105, his best figures since moving from Derbyshire in 2022.Wickets had been scarce on day two, but things were soon back to normal. Daniel Bell-Drummond had added just a single to his overnight score when he was late on a straight one from Jamie Porter. He had been in the middle for 73 overs with Compton while putting on 224 for the second wicket.It was the breakthrough Essex needed after waiting so long. They had taken the new ball at the start of the day and it quickly accounted for Jack Leaning in Porter’s next over, lbw to one that jagged in, before Shane Snater removed Joe Denly’s leg stump to claim his 100th first-class wicket.It was then over to Critchley, who flipped from end to end, taking wickets at both. Harry Finch misdrove to a stooping mid-off to the first ball of a brief spell from the river end, Jaydn Denly lunged extravagantly to loop a ball from the opposite end into short leg’s hands and Wes Agar toppled forward to fall lbw as Critchley reverted to his original starting point.However, that only brought in Nathan Gilchrist who pulled Critchley and Simon Harmer for sixes as he contributed 33 towards the first fifty of a 88-run stand with the immovable Compton.Gilchrist was finally out for a career-high of 41 from 64 balls, having helped Kent avoid the follow-on, before edging Critchley behind where Michael Pepper grabbed the catch at the second attempt. Critchley’s fourth career five-wicket haul was confirmed when Matt Parkinson thick-edged to slip.Compton, 100 not out at start of play, watched the wickets tumble from the other end. He played one of the shots of the day when he rocked back and drove Harmer through the covers for four. But he was denied the honour of carrying his bat, bowled around his legs attempting to sweep Harmer.When Essex batted for a second time, Dean Elgar survived a chance to Agar’s third ball, dropped at the third attempt by a diving Finch. Elgar made Kent pay with 34 from 48 balls before Garrett trapped him lbw.Kent had broken through when Feroze Khushi watched in horror as an injudicious pull off Agar ended up in deep midwicket’s hands. Agar had a second wicket when Tom Westley played all around one and was lbw.Cox quickly found his range, twice reverse-sweeping Parkinson for boundaries and then slamming two fours through midwicket and a six over extra cover in a Parkinson over that cost 19. That wasn’t the end of the T20-style innings as sixes rained around Chelmsford. The ubiquitous Critchley hit 25 from 23 balls in a quickfire 87-run partnership with Cox before being bowled by Parkinson while Pepper helped add 91 for the unbroken fifth wicket.