Kent spinner Matt Parkinson insisted they’re still on top despite a fightback by Middlesex late on day two at Canterbury.
Middlesex trail by 97 with four first-innings wickets left in their Rothesay County Championship Division 2 clash thanks to Max Holden’s 143 not out.
Holden’s unbroken 160-run partnership with Zafar Gohar (62 not out) helped Middlesex avoid the follow-on. Kent were left to rue a number of missed chances in the field, having reduced the visitors to 159-6 at one stage.
Parkinson said: “I think we’re still on top. Obviously, Zaf and Max have played well in that last session, but I think if you’d offered us, on day one to have them six down leading by 100? I think we’d have taken it.
“We’ve just been speaking in the changing room and I think we actually had the worst of the pitch yesterday. The way the boys played was fantastic and for me and Hasan to sneak us up to 400 was nice, but I actually think from about the 25 over mark of our bowling innings, it did get flat, so to score 416 was fantastic.”
Earlier Seb Morgan took career-best figures of 5-104 as Kent were bowled out for 416.
The hosts began the second day on 356-7 and Tom Helm had Matt Milnes caught behind for 18, before Morgan took his fifth when Keith Dudgeon swatted him to Leus du Plooy for 30.
That left Kent 14 short of a fourth bonus point and the chase for that went to the final ball of the 110th over. After four dots, Matt Parkinson scrambled to the striker’s end, narrowly avoiding a run out. He then hit the sixth ball of Gohar’s over for six over mid-wicket, to loud cheers.
Parkinson finally went for a handy 13 when he edged Toby Roland-Jones to Helm, leaving Hasan Mahmud unbeaten on 22.
“It’s my first first-class six,” said Parkinson. “I messed up the over before and then I wasn’t sure whether Has knew. I tried to communicate that we had the over, but I think he just thought we just needed to get 400.
“So he started blocking it and I was like, oh God, we’re in trouble here. But lucky to absolutely slog that last delivery, it came out the middle.
“Obviously, that last session could have gone better. There were a couple of decisions that maybe could have gone for us, but on the whole, from where we were last year to now, if we’d have had a team six down after 75 overs at Canterbury, you’d be buzzing.”
Milnes (2-51) was unlucky not to get a wicket in his first over, and he did get Sam Robson lbw for one in his second.
Ben Geddes was his next victim, edging him to Grant Stewart at fourth slip and he nearly got a third before lunch when Stewart couldn’t take on a one-handed chance from Holden.
Middlesex were on 32-2 at lunch and lost du Plooy for 14 in the second over after play resumed. Mahmud (2-60) went round the wicket to the left-hander, who left his third legitimate delivery and lost his off stump.
Mahmud sent Caleb Falconer’s off stump flying for nine and then produced a bouncer that Cracknell appeared to edge into his helmet. Ekansh Singh misjudged the chance at short leg and Cracknell and Holden put together Middlesex’s first serious partnership.
Holden hit Parkinson (2-80) for six to reach 50 and although he was then put down by Ben Dawkins at short leg, Parkinson removed Cracknell at the end of the same over when he had him caught by Dudgeon at first slip.
Morgan fell in near identical fashion for six, leaving Middlesex on 180-6 at tea, but Holden and Zafar swung the momentum completely in the final session as they took the score to 319-6.
Holden steered Mahmud through long leg for four to reach three figures. Batting looked significantly easier and when a rare chance did arise, when Zafar misjudged Dudgeon, Singh hesitated at square leg.
Report via ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay
