Kent rally but Rhodes double ton keeps Bears on top
Kent captain Daniel Bell-Drummond responded well after Will Rhodes' double century for Warwickshire
- Published
Vitality County Championship Division One, Edgbaston (day two)
Kent 156: Compton 70; Booth 3-13, Hannon-Dalby 3-31, Rushworth 3-43 & 157-3: Bell-Drummond 78, Hannon-Dalby 3-26
Warwickshire 420: Rhodes 201, Barnard 65; Garrett 3-75, Parkinson 3-96
Kent (3 pts) trail Warwickshire (7 pts) by 107 runs
Former skipper Will Rhodes marked his penultimate home game as a Warwickshire player by completing his first County Championship double century to put his side in total command against Kent at Edgbaston.
Durham-bound Rhodes struck a chanceless 201 in a six-and-a-half hour marathon as Warwickshire reached 420 to earn a first-innings lead of 264 - and a huge chance of a first Championship Division One win of the season.
But Kent rallied well in their second innings to close the second day on 157-3, within 107 of making the Bears bat again.
Kent skipper Daniel Bell-Drummond added 116 in 29 overs without too many alarms against the Kookaburra ball. But he was adjudged lbw for 78 to a ball which appeared to be passing well down the leg side.
Finch then departed in equal disbelief at being given out caught at slip off his shoulder. But it meant three more wickets for Olly Hannon-Dalby, who ended the day on 3-26, having taken his 2024 Championship wicket tally to 43.
- Published29 August
Bottom club Kent’s multitude of problems continue to mount as they face up to an almost certain return to Division Two, which they left alongside the second tier title-winning Bears in 2018.
Their bowling attack, nobly led by George Garrett (3-76) and Matt Parkinson (3-94), was deprived of Grant Stewart by a shoulder injury while last week's double centurion Tawanda Muyeye could not open the batting as he was unable to field because of a knee injury.
When Warwickshire resumed on the second morning on 207-3, their progress was immediately brisk.
Rhodes struck the first ball of the day to the boundary and five fours from his first 17 balls faced in the session took him to a 151-ball century.
After another fine knock of 69 from Ed Barnard, he then almost ran out of partners in reaching the second double century of his career, before finally being ninth out, just six short of his career best.
Match report supplied by ECB Reporters Network.
Will Rhodes' career-best score remains his 207 for the Bears against the Pears in the Bob Willis Trophy at Worcester in 2020
Warwickshire's double centurion Will Rhodes told BBC Radio WM:
"After what has happened to me personally in the last month, with the news that I am leaving, to get a big score in front of the home crowd before I go is very pleasant.
"You never know, it could be my last innings here as a Warwickshire player if it rains when we play Essex, so it was lovely to score some runs.
"It will be emotional when we play Essex because it has been a great seven years here and a period of my career I will remember very fondly."
