Singh a thorn in hosts’ side

England Lion Ekansh Singh tore the heart out of the Middlesex top order as Kent stepped up their County Championship Division 2 promotion push on day three at Merchant Taylors’ School.

Singh, whose Lions call-up came earlier this summer, put aside a first-ball duck earlier in the day to snaffle 3-35 as the hosts slipped from 68-0 to 103-3 in pursuit of an imposing 356 to win. Ben Geddes and Leus du Plooy launched a counter-attack in response, but the former fell before the close, leaving Middlesex 186-4, skipper du Plooy 36 not out.

Earlier, contrasting half-centuries from Tawanda Muyeye and Ben Compton ensured Kent maintained the grip on the game they had established over the first two days. Muyeye exuded flamboyance in a boundary-littered 64 at almost a run a ball, while the obdurate Compton top scored with 65.

The pair shared a second-wicket stand of 93, and with Chris Benjamin and skipper Daniel Bell-Drummond weighing in with 45 and 39 respectively, Kent were eventually bowled out for 254. Tom Helm was the pick of the home attack with 3-31, Ryan Higgins took 3-83 and Zafar Gohar 2-17.

“Tawanda and Ben were superb,” said Singh.

“The key coming in today was that we managed that first hour of play really well and those two did exactly that. They got us right into the driving seat and put us in a very good position. We are very confident we are now in a winning position.

“The pitch is a great balance between bat and ball. There’s definitely still a lot in it for the bowlers. There’s a bit of variable bounce now as well as seam movement that’s been there throughout the whole game. You can tell by the outfield that it is quick scoring at times.

“I don’t know (where his wickets came from). As most things do in cricket, they come to you when you are getting the processes right, so that is all I was really thinking about and being as relaxed as I can and getting what I believe are the things I do best right.”

The opening session revolved around the crucial stand between Muyeye and Compton, their runs vital in the context of both the game and the Division 2 promotion race.

With leaders Durham on course for another win and Northamptonshire, Kent’s main challengers at present for the second promotion spot, already handily-placed against Lancashire, the visiting batters began the day 38-2 with a lead of 139 and knowing it was crucial not to lose early wickets.

With plenty of seam movement still in evidence, Muyeye clearly took the view attack was the best form of defence, shrugging off a lifting ball from Toby Roland-Jones which beat him all ends up to then promptly pull the veteran seamer for six before sending a similar short ball later in the over to the fence at long leg.

The 25-year-old motored to 50 and celebrated with successive boundaries off Noah Cornwell, the young left-armer, drafted in as an injury replacement on day two, coming in for some harsh treatment.

It took the introduction of spin in the form of Gohar to end his revelry, trapped LBW attempting to sweep. By then however, Kent’s lead was beyond 200.

Bell-Drummond, who had struggled in the first innings, took up the attack trading almost exclusively in boundaries before being bowled by Gohar from the last ball before lunch.

By this stage Compton, mixing lovely cover drives with his typical solid defence, had reached his own 50 off 98 balls but with Kent almost 300 ahead shortly after the resumption, he fell to a juggling catch by Max Holden at cover, deserved reward for the persevering Helm.

Helm struck again with the next ball, bowling Singh with a beauty and while Keith Dudgeon prevented the hat-trick, the visitors slipped to 203-8 before late blows from Benjamin lifted the target beyond 350.

Middlesex began the chase with resolution, Luke Hollman and Sam Robson wearing one or two on the body and battling to deal with balls of variable bounce. Both played the short ball well, dispatching savage pull shots to the fence.

They’d seen off the new-ball pair of Matt Milnes and Matt Quinn and looked set before Singh changed the complexion of the evening session.

Finding lift from a length the 20-year-old did for former England opener Robson, who edged behind, and it wasn’t long before Holden, too, was back in the hutch, castled by another rapid delivery from the youngster.

Singh, with only 10 first-class wickets before today, wasn’t finished there finding the edge of Hollman’s bat to give Benjamin his second catch of the innings.

Geddes and du Plooy opted for aggression in response with the former driving imperiously through the covers against the seamers. However, his devil-may-care approach proved his downfall when lured into the pull shot he holed out at long leg.

Report by ECB Reporters’ Network supported by Rothesay.