Matt Milnes took five wickets as Kent beat Middlesex on a thrilling final day in the Rothesay County Championship.
Milnes took 5-31 in 18 overs as Kent won by 49 runs at Canterbury. Chasing 231 for victory, Middlesex slumped to 93-7 on the final afternoon before Zafar Gohar’s unbeaten 66 gave them late hope.
“That’s probably one of the better wins I’ve ever experienced in my career,” said Milnes.
“I thought the way the game ebbed and flowed, I thought we were ahead of the game at times, I thought we were behind the game at times. It was a really good game of cricket, so to come out on top was fantastic.
“When we were batting this morning, we felt that we probably needed to get a 60-70 run partnership to give us a chance, and I obviously played pretty terribly, so that didn’t help matters.
“When it came to bowling, we knew that the pitch was going up and down a little bit, so there was something to work with. Whilst it wasn’t too much sideways movement, there was a little bit up and down, so I think we just had to keep the stumps in play all day.
“Thankfully, I think all four of us seamers did that, and then Parky did a fantastic job at bowling up the hill as well.
“They were always going to get a partnership. I think every innings, after 40 odd overs, the ball went soft, and it got that bit easier.
“Not that we bowled poorly, I think it was just the plans we went with. Then after tea, we went back to basics a little bit, and thankfully got a wicket not far after tea, which obviously gave us a bit of momentum to get the last two after that.”
Kent started day four with a lead of 206. Milnes added only three to his overnight score of eight when he flicked Tom Helm (4-72) to Ben Geddes at fine leg and Naavya Sharma got Matt Parkinson lbw for a duck in the next over.
Keith Dudgeon pulled Sharma for a six over square leg and then got four from a Toby Roland-Jones misfield, but he hit the very next delivery, from Helm, straight to the same fielder. He went for 37 with Kent all out for 257.
Milnes ignited Kent’s hopes when he bowled Sam Robson for seven with one that nipped back. Ben Geddes was on six when he had a major stroke of luck, hitting a Hasan Mahmud delivery that rolled onto his leg stump without enough force to dislodge the bail, but Milnes then got him lbw for 11.
Dudgeon replaced Milnes at the Nackington Road End and bowled Max Holden for nine. Then he bowled Leus du Plooy, who played on for 13, to leave Middlesex 52-4 at lunch.
Joe Cracknell was on 16 when Milnes found his edge and the ball looped to Sam Northeast at second slip.
Skipper Daniel Bell-Drummond then brought Grant Stewart back from the Pavilion End and he got Seb Morgan lbw for eight with his third ball to make it 85-6.
Hasan Mahmud switched to the Nackington Road End and his first ball bowled Caleb Falconer for 12 off 62 balls.
Zafar Gohar and Roland-Jones produced the biggest partnership of the innings, after Milnes couldn’t quite reel in Roland-Jones when he pulled Hasan to mid-wicket. They cut the deficit to double figures and had reached 134-7 at tea.
They’d just completed a fifty stand when Milnes trapped Roland-Jones lbw for 17. Zafar nudged Milnes for a single to reach his half-century, but he then lost Helm, lbw for four, again to Milnes, with 64 still needed.
Zafar battled on, producing an elegant cover drive off Milnes, but with 50 needed, Dudgeon (3-36) returned to the Nackington Road End and got Sharma lbw for a duck.
Report via ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay
