County Championship: Matt Henry puts Kent in control against Glamorgan
- Published
Matt Henry has played nine Tests for New Zealand
Specsavers County Championship Division Two, Spitfire Ground (day one): |
Glamorgan 186 (67.1 overs): Murphy 80, Henry 4-45, Stewart 3-34 |
Kent 93-2 (26 overs): Crawley 56* |
Kent (3 pts), Glamorgan (0 pts) |
Kent took another step towards promotion as they bowled Glamorgan out for 186 at Canterbury, before reaching 93-2 in reply.
New Zealand paceman Matt Henry (4-45) took three morning wickets to wreck the top order.
Number three Jack Murphy, 23, was last out for a battling career-best 80, with no-one else passing 20.
Grant Stewart (3-34) and Darren Stevens (2-38) supported Henry well.
Henry's four-wicket haul extended his tally to 70 in a remarkably influential season.
Kent's reply was given a flying start by Zak Crawley, 20, who hit 56 not out off 79 balls in the evening gloom, though England Test hopeful Joe Denly fell to Kieran Bull for 30 just before the close.
Meanwhile, Kent have announced seamer Matt Hunn will leave the club at the end of the season, "to explore a career outside of cricket".
The 24-year-old took 56 wickets in 29 first-team games for the county.
Kent all-rounder Grant Stewart told BBC Radio Kent:
"I thought it was a pretty good effort from the boys on a good wicket, a little different from the typical wicket we've seen here this season, so hopefully we can get a big score.
"There was probably not as much seam movement as you usually find here, so it was more swing that came into play which benefits my sort of bowling but we bowled well as a unit.
"It's been a dream year to come into the club, we've done well in all formats so with a couple of games to go it'll hopefully be promotion for next year and I can't complain!"
Glamorgan batsman Jack Murphy told BBC Sport Wales:
"I just stuck to my game-plan, it's a pretty good wicket but they bowled really well with Matt Henry being the leading wicket-taker (in the Championship). I took a long time to get to that 80 but I'd rather do that than look to be more aggressive.
"It was deja vu from the game in Cardiff when I batted through, though a shame I couldn't get to three figures. It was frustrating getting dropped for the last couple of games but being recalled for this, I was determined to prove I do deserve to be at the top of the order and I felt comfortable with my game.
"It's all about having mental strength, these couple of weeks have helped refresh my mind, doing different things and being with my family, so it was nice to come out hungry for runs and get them- hopefully second dig we can all kick on a bit more."