Rothesay County Championship, Division Two, Blackpool (day two)
Kent 178: Dawkins 54; Livingstone 5-55 & 320-8: Benjamin 101*, Finch 83; Balderson 3-65
Lancashire 87: McDermott 23; Dudgeon 6-21, Mahmud 3-32
Kent (3 pts) lead Lancashire (3 pts) by 411 runs with 2 wickets remaining
Match scorecard
Keith Dudgeon took 6-32 to help Kent completely dominate the second day of their County Championship match against Lancashire.
Bangladeshi bowler Hasan Mahmud supported Dudgeon by taking 3-32 on his Kent debut as the home side lost their last eight wickets for 70 runs and were bowled out for 87 on a dramatic morning at Stanley Park.
Having seen their bowlers earn a 91-run advantage, Chris Benjamin made 101 not out and opener Harry Finch 83 as Kent strengthened their position to end the day on 320-8, giving them a lead of 411 with two days left to play.
In an extraordinary first session, nine wickets fell for 82 runs in 27 overs. Eight of those wickets belonged to Lancashire batters, whose team collapsed from their overnight 17-2 to 87 all out, each departure being greeted with silence from the home crowd.
Dudgeon struck the first blow when he bowled Josh Bohannon for eight with a fine ball that seamed away from the Lancashire batter.
Matt Milnes then castled nightwatchman Tom Bailey for three before Mahmud made an immediate impression on his Kent debut.
The Bangladeshi seamer had Marcus Harris caught at slip by Sam Northeast for three with his seventh delivery in first-class English cricket and produced a superb delivery 20 minutes later to have Liam Livingstone caught behind for eight
Dudgeon returned to the North End and bagged three of the last four wickets, bowling top-scorer Ben McDermott off the inside edge for 23 before Hasan had Joe Moores caught at slip by Ben Dawkins for eight on his Lancashire first-class debut.
Dudgeon then dismissed George Balderson for four and James Anderson for two in the same over but that left just enough time before lunch for Anderson to have Dawkins caught at slip by Harry Singh off the first ball of Kent’s second innings.
Kent’s batters built on their superiority in impressive fashion during the afternoon session.
Northeast helped Finch put on 55 for the second wicket before he was caught at slip by Singh off Balderson for 23 but the visitors were 143-2 at tea and the lead had reached an already formidable 234.
Lancashire took six wickets in the 40-over evening session but could not prevent Kent ending the day with a colossal lead.
Daniel Bell-Drummond fell to the second ball after tea, caught behind by Moores down the leg side off Balderson for 34 and Ekansh Singh was bowled by Livingstone for 14.
After batting for 190 minutes and hitting 12 fours and a six, Finch was dismissed for 83 three overs later when he nicked a good ball from Balderson to Moores and Bertie Foreman was lbw to Tom Aspinwall for 11.
Dudgeon was dismissed by Anderson for 16 and Balderson took his third wicket when he had Milnes caught on the boundary for eight.
But Benjamin took heavy toll of a tiring attack and reached his second century of the season in the penultimate over of the day.
The Kent wicketkeeper reached his landmark off 76 balls having hit six fours and five sixes.
Report by ECB Reporters’ Network, supported by Rothesay.
