Two many Cooks for Kent as Essex take management
Essex 106 for 0 (A Cook 64*, Browne 31*) path Kent 207 (Compton 47, S Cook 3-19) by 101 runs
Sir Alastair Cook notched the 123rd half-century of his bejewelled profession as he steered Essex right into a commanding place on the primary day of their LV= Insurance County Championship match in opposition to Kent.
Cook, nonetheless there on the shut on 64, was joined in an unbeaten first-wicket stand of 106 by Nick Browne, who was painstakingly trying to rebuild his flagging type after a run of three successive geese. He was on the trail to redempton with 31 from 117 balls.
Earlier, Kent elected to bat on a green-tinged pitch beneath heavy gray clouds that required the usage of floodlights after an hour. Their innings lasted simply wanting two periods for 207 because the lower-order threw away their wickets with some abandon.
Only a sedate 58-run fourth-wicket partnership between Ben Compton, who recorded an 81-ball 47, and captain Jack Leaning interrupted a daily clatter of wickets with nagging seamers Sam Cook and Jamie Porter sharing six of them equally.
Twanda Muyeye survived an honest likelihood to Matt Critchley at third slip earlier than he was crushed for tempo to current Sam Cook with the primary of three wickets for 19 in 11 overs.
Next ball Joe Denly’s depressing season continued when he performed down the mistaken line and was caught behind for his fourth duck of this marketing campaign.
To compound Kent’s issues, Harry Finch confronted 15 deliveries with out scoring when he set off for a non-existent single to gully the place Paul Walter swooped and hit the only stump he might see.
Compton and Leaning settled in for a stand that wanted 17 overs to placed on fifty, and that regardless of Compton hitting Doug Bracewell for 3 successive boundaries, two by way of the covers, the opposite a flick off his legs.
However, to the final ball earlier than lunch Compton tried to dig out a fuller supply from Simon Harmer and solely succeeded in chipping the ball again tamely to the bowler.
Leaning adopted quickly after the break when he bought a thick edge to at least one from Sam Cook that went away from him and wicketkeeper Adam Rossington took a positive diving catch to his proper. Joey Evison went shouldering arms to at least one that got here again late from Bracewell.
Grant Stewart smashed Harmer for 2 straight sixes in a brisk, seven-over stand of 43 with Jordan Cox earlier than Porter discovered a peach of a ball to take away Cox.
Porter then set a short-ball honey-trap for Stewart who hooked straight to one in every of a military on the boundary, and two balls later Matt Quinn skied rashly to midwicket. Arshdeep Singh swept Critchley for an enormous six and wafted lazily on the subsequent ball and was stumped with out bothering to look again.
When Essex replied within the night session, Alastair Cook slipped into imperious mode after a watchful begin, exhibiting an array of pictures across the wicket in depositing Stewart for 3 successive fours, although he was put down off the identical bowler to a pointy likelihood within the gully.
Of the fifty partnership in 17 overs, hecontributed 38 with Browne taking part in second fiddle with a dozen; of the century partnership Browne had 27 and Cook 63, passing fifty for the fifth time this season when he swept Hamid Qadri for his tenth boundary.
Essex, by the way, will probably be strengthened with the inclusion of Dan Lawrence of their batting line-up on day two as he returns south after being the spare man within the England XII for the concurrent fourth Test at Old Trafford. He will change Robin Das.