County Championship: Kent and Lancashire evenly poised in Canterbury
- Published
Josh Bohannon's 87 came off 211 deliveries and included eight fours
LV= County Championship Group Three, The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence, Canterbury (day one) |
Lancashire 260-7: Bohannon 87, Vilas 53; Stevens 2-35 |
Kent: Yet to bat |
Kent 2 pts, Lancashire 2 pts |
Lancashire's County Championship fixture with Kent in Canterbury remains in the balance as the visitors finished day one on 260-7.
Josh Bohannon (87) fell agonisingly short of his second first-class century, pinned lbw by Miguel Cummins with six overs left before the close.
Lancashire were 85-4, but were rescued by a 102-run partnership from Bohannon and skipper Dane Vilas (53).
Luke Wood (28 not out) and Danny Lamb (12 not out) were unbeaten at stumps.
Kent won the toss and their decision to field seemed justified as Daniel Bell-Drummond's side had the better of the first two sessions.
But Bohannon and Vilas' partnership looked like it may swing the fixture in Lancashire's favour, before they both fell after tea to leave things evenly poised.
Kent stalwart Darren Stevens (2-35) and former West Indies paceman Cummins (2-61) were the pick of the bowlers.
The hosts took two bowling points while Lancashire added two bonus points with the bat.
Kent's Fred Klaassen:
"It was 50-50 I suppose. It would have been nice to bowl them out, but especially in that first session we bowled pretty well to get only a couple of wickets.
"Seven's a decent effort. We bowled pretty tight the whole day, led by Stevo and Milnesy who bowled a lot of maidens.
"I feel we're in a very good position, especially if we can come back and take those three quick wickets and get out there and bat."
Lancashire batsman Josh Bohannon:
"Obviously I'm gutted but also, after last week, if you'd offered me 87 at the start of the day, I'd have ripped your hand off. And I always enjoy putting a graft in. It keeps me switched on.
"We're in a good position, although I would have liked to not get out there and still be six down. It's been a hard-fought day for us but we've got a lot of work to do.
"It's quite a tough pitch, it feels nice to bat on, but they bowled really well with straight fields and they shut us down for periods."