Nottinghamshire scored 350 runs in their first innings, with Slater contributing 100 runs, Moores scoring 94 runs, and Singh taking 4 wickets for 87 runs.
In their second innings, Nottinghamshire declared at 372 for 6, with Slater scoring 87 runs and Young and Clarke contributing 87 and 73 runs, respectively.
Worcestershire Seamen Prevail Despite Taylor-Made Opposition
Kent managed to score 316 runs in their first innings, with Finch scoring 73 runs and Harrison taking four wickets for 28 runs. In their second innings, Kent only managed to score 85 runs, with Paterson taking 5 wickets for 41 runs and Hutton taking 4 wickets for 44 runs. Nottinghamshire won the match by a margin of 321 runs.
Dane Paterson’s five wickets and Brett Hutton’s four wickets led to a swift and detrimental defeat for Kent in their LV= Insurance County Championship match at Trent Bridge.
Kent was bowled out for a mere 85 runs, causing them to fall into the bottom two in Division One with only three games remaining.
Paterson took five wickets for 41 runs in 10 overs in the match. On the other hand, Hutton’s impressive performance resulted in him taking 4 wickets for 44 runs.
This achievement marked a significant milestone for Hutton as it was his first time reaching 50 doors in a season in his first-class career. With these 4 wickets, Hutton’s total wicket count for the season now stands at 52.
Jack Leaning, the skipper of Kent, managed a meager score of 21, which was the highest among his teammates. Kent was theoretically chasing a target of 407 runs to win in 72 overs and was all out in just 21.3 overs.
Before lunch, Nottinghamshire declared their second innings on 372. Will Young and Ben Slater scored 87, while Joe Clarke contributed 73.
Nottinghamshire has earned 22 points, which should be sufficient to secure their position in Division One for another season. This comes after their promotion in 2022.
Slater, who had his sights set on scoring another hundred in the match, unfortunately got out on the fifth ball of the day.
He was unable to increase his overnight score. However, apart from that, Nottinghamshire’s strategies for setting up a run chase went exceptionally well.
If anything, the team performed exceptionally well, with the scoreboard advancing rapidly. Skipper Steven Mullaney may have even had to reconsider when to declare, considering the number of overs remaining in the match.
After carefully considering the timing, he decided to resume the game. In a span of only 78 minutes, Nottinghamshire managed to add an impressive 196 runs to their score, starting from 176 for 1.
Out of those, 114 runs were scored off just 77 balls in an impressive third-wicket partnership between New Zealand’s Young and Clarke. Young, who made 87 runs in his final innings with the county, showcased his talent. Clarke, on the other hand, scored 73 runs from 40 balls, which undoubtedly boosted his confidence ahead of his upcoming stint with Welsh Fire in the Hundred.
Clarke hit three sixes, the same number as Young, but he achieved this in half the number of balls. Additionally, Mullaney and Lyndon James each hit a couple of sixes. Lyndon James, in particular, played an impressive innings of 42 runs off just 18 balls for the sixth wicket.
However, Mullaney’s dismissal came when he was trying to score more runs off Arafat Bhuiyan’s over, which had already conceded 20 runs. This prompted the declaration.
Clarke was eventually caught at deep midwicket after scoring 26 runs. However, Arshdeep Singh, in his final match for Kent, missed a straightforward catch at mid-off.
Joey Evison, the bowler who felt disappointed and used to be Clarke’s teammate at Trent Bridge, understood the potential consequences of that mistake very well.
Similar to Clarke, Young and Tom Moores were caught in the deep while attempting to make significant returns. As a result, Nottinghamshire extended the target for Kent beyond 400 runs.
However, it was never a realistic expectation for Kent, considering the absence of several critical batters due to injuries and international commitments.
However, they were still confident in their ability to draw, so the sudden unraveling of that possibility was unexpected.
During the eight overs before lunch, the top three players from their team were all dismissed. Toby Albert was dismissed by Hutton on the fourth ball, resulting in a duck. Ben Geddes was caught by Slater at short leg off Paterson’s quick reaction.
Ben Compton was given out portion before wicket to a swinging ball, marking South Africa’s second wicket celebration.
After lunch, Kent’s resolve remained unchanged as Harry Finch was soon dismissed leg before wicket by Hutton, who achieved his 50th wicket of the season.
Following that, Leaning was caught behind after a bottom edge, resulting in Kent’s score reaching 59 for 5.
Paterson skillfully caught Evison at third slip and Quinn on the boundary, concluding a short but eventful innings with a top-edged pull shot.
Alex Blake quickly realized his fate when he saw Mullaney preparing to catch the ball. Hutton had just hit the ball over midwicket, but Arshdeep, who had previously hit Paterson for a six over the leg side, unfortunately got out on the next ball. Hutton made a great diving catch at deep backward square, successfully preventing Arshdeep from repeating his previous success.
After bowling ten overs, the two pacemen took a break. However, Kent’s downfall was swiftly sealed when Bhuiyan claimed Haseeb Hameed’s legbreaks as his first-ever wicket in first-class cricket.
