Duo put Kent in the driving seat

Matt Milnes claimed his third five-wicket haul of the season as Kent seized control of their County Championship Division game against Middlesex at Merchant Taylors’ School.

Seamer Milnes ended the second day with figures of 5-53 - having earlier starred with a valuable batting cameo of 32 to stretch the visitors’ total to exactly 350 - while new-ball partner Matt Quinn took 4-52.

There was a similar performance by Toby Roland-Jones, who finished with 5-71 before smashing a brisk 36 to help rescue the home side from 147-8 and ensure they avoided the follow-on.

Eathan Bosch signed off his Middlesex stint with a controlled, unbeaten 43 but took a knock on the elbow from Quinn in the process and was replaced by Noah Cornwell for the second innings - a move queried by Kent, who closed on 38-2 for an overall lead of 139.

“We feel we’re in a really good position in this game,” said Quinn.

“It wasn’t easy batting tonight, quite overcast, but we’re close to 150 runs ahead so I think we’re in a good spot.

“We just kept picking them up as the day went on, but the way they batted at the end is exactly how you’d expect to bat on that sort of wicket and, fair play to the last three batters, they just whacked us off our length.

“Coming here I don’t think we expected this wicket to nip, we’ve had the driest weather in England for a long time - so obviously the bowlers are pretty happy.

“Obviously taking a few wickets today was nice and I really enjoyed the day, but bowling second time around is always a lot tougher.

“I think tomorrow first hour we’ll just look to get through and then build on our first-innings score and see where we end up, then it’s rinse and repeat for the bowlers when we come back to bowl.”

Kent resumed in the morning one short of 300 and Ryan Higgins’ no-ball lifted them above that landmark before their seventh wicket fell later in the over, Keith Dudgeon feathering one behind.

However, Milnes’ assured strokeplay boosted the visitors’ total, with two sweet on-drives off Higgins flying to the rope before Roland-Jones returned to dismiss Ekansh Singh and Matt Parkinson and complete his five-wicket haul.

It was down to Milnes to secure Kent’s third batting bonus point and he did so with another boundary off Higgins (3-86) before attempting to ramp the next delivery and seeing his stumps splayed.

Having swapped bat for ball, Milnes then made the initial breakthrough in the home side’s reply, with Sam Robson departing cheaply courtesy of Tawanda Muyeye’s excellent diving catch in the slips.

Max Holden might have followed quickly, swiping a hook off Quinn behind only for Chris Benjamin to fluff the chance and he and Luke Hollman guided Middlesex to lunch at 47-1.

Within eight overs of the restart, however, their prospects had nosedived as Kent’s opening seamers grabbed two more wickets apiece - the pick of them an unplayable Milnes delivery that ripped out Holden’s off-stump.

Ben Geddes could consider himself unlucky to be given out caught behind, apparently failing to connect with a hook off Quinn that skimmed his helmet on the way into Benjamin’s mitts, but Middlesex badly needed a partnership to repair the damage.

They found one from Higgins and Joe Cracknell, who counter-attacked with gusto as he cut and drove nicely, as well as pulling Ekansh for six until Quinn returned to have him caught behind for 38.

Cracknell’s dismissal triggered Higgins’ switch to a more aggressive mode, but he was gone too a few overs later, leaving a ball from Milnes that sent off-stump flying - and the bowler claimed his sixth wicket on the stroke of tea, with Zafar Gohar leg before.

Roland-Jones took the fight to Kent’s bowlers, hammering 18 from one Quinn over and pulling Milnes for six before Bosch nudged Middlesex beyond the follow-on mark, cutting Parkinson to the rope.

After a half-hour delay for bad light, the final pair narrowed the deficit with a partnership of 56 as Bosch played off the back foot with precision and Tom Helm found the boundary with regularity in his 26 before holing out to deep midwicket.

Kent lost Zak Crawley - for a second-ball duck - and Sam Northeast early in their second innings before Muyeye (23 no), who survived a chance to third slip, and Ben Compton (10 no) steadied the ship.

Report by ECB Reporters’ Network supported by Rothesay.