Middlesex 333 and 327; Kent 308 and 42 for 0

ONE century down, 66 to go. That was the statistic that faced Middlesex batsman Nick Compton after scoring his maiden championship century for Middlesex against Kent on day three of a fascinating championship clash at Lord’s.

Compton, the grandson of Middlesex and England legend Dennis who hit 67 hundreds for the county, proved Kent’s major stumbling block in St John’s Wood as the hosts reached 327 all out to set Rob Key’s side a victory target of 353.

After an excellent morning session that saw Kent take three big wickets, Compton dug in, taking 95 minutes to score his first boundary in an innings that ultimately lasted almost four and a half hours for a career best 124.

The visiting attack made the best of the early morning cloud cover to remove Ben Hutton, Owais Shah and first-innings century-maker Ed Joyce in the space of eight overs.

Hutton miscued a pull-shot high to mid-off, Shah was trapped leg before by a Khan off-cutter that kept low and Joyce edged to second slip as Joseph set out on his second four-wicket haul of the game.

Compton led the fight-back in tandem with Jamie Dalrymple as the pair added 95 for the fifth wicket either side of lunch before Joseph returned to have Dalrymple leg before for 67 as the right-hander worked across the line of an out-swinger.

Ben Scott soon followed to a return catch by Justin Kemp then Niall O’Brien took a fine tumbling catch to account for Johann Louw and make it 210 for seven.

At this point Kent fancied their chances of maybe wrapping up a three-day win, but Compton stood firm and was soon celebrating his first century at Lord’s.

Though he plays many shots 'on the walk', it became clear that Compton, like Kevin Pietersen, has superb hand-eye co-ordination as he set about dispatching the Kent attack to all parts by mid-afternoon.

He clobbered only seven fours, but also lofted sixes off Patel, the second of which raised his hundred from 181-balls and added 88 for the eighth wicket with Chris Wright.

Dropped on 34 by substitute fielder Simon Cusden, fielding while Min Patel had treatment for a slight groin strain, Wright went eight runs later when Cusden accepted a further chance at deep mid-wicket off the occasional seamers of Matthew Walker.

Compton followed soon after, bowled by Khan’s first delivery with the new ball and the same bowler then fooled Mohammad Ali with a slower ball and grabbed the return catch to finish with four for 58.

Needing the highest score of the match to win the game, Kent set out ambitiously in pursuit as openers Rob Key and David Fulton added 42 without loss or alarm in the 17 overs through to the close.

SCORECARD

Middlesex first innings:

E T Smith c van Jaarsveld b Joseph 36
B L Hutton c Joseph b Kemp 47
O A Shah c van Jaarsveld b Khan 12
E C Joyce c Kemp b Joseph 130
J W M Dalrymple c O’Brien b Cook 17
N R D Compton c O’Brien b Kemp 13
B J M Scott b Kemp12
J Louw c O’Brien b Stevens 1
C J C Wright c van Jaarsveld 10
C E W Silverwood c Stevens b Joseph 2
Mohammad Ali not out 19

Extras 34

Total: 333 all out after 101.1 overs.

Fall of wicket: 1-67, 2-91, 3-154, 4-191, 5-232, 6-255, 7-268, 8-289, 9-295.

Bowling: Khan 23-4-82-1, Cook 18-4-48-1, Joseph 22.1-2-62-4, Kemp 20-3-72-3, Patel 12-1-42-0, Stevens 6-0-14-1.

Kent first innings:

R W T Key lbw b Silverwood 4
D P Fulton c Dalrymple b Wright 30
M van Jaarsveld c Smith b Silverwood 63
M J Walker c Joyce b Ali 123
D I Stevens c Scott b Louw 15
J M Kemp c Hutton b Dalrymple 13
M M Patel c Hutton b Dalrymple 2
S J Cook c Shah b Silverwood 6
A Khan b Dalrymple 11
R H Joseph not out 0

Extras 31

Total: 308 all out after 85.5 overs.

Fall of wicket: 1-9, 2-69, 3-156, 4-162, 5-184, 6-211, 7-224, 8-251, 9-296

Bowling: Silverwood 17-3-55-3, Louw 20-5-69-1, Wright 15-3-64-1, Ali 13.5-2-71-2, Hutton 3-2-6-0, Dalrymple 17-6-33-3.

Middlesex second innings:

E T Smith c van Jaarsveld b Khan 2
B L Hutton c Key b Joseph 8
O A Shah lbw b Khan 16
E C Joyce c van Jaarsveld b Joseph 9
J W M Dalrymple lbw b Joseph 64
N R D Compton b Khan 124
B J M Scott c & b Kemp 14
J Louw c O’Brien b Joseph 2
C J C Wright c Sub (Cusden) b Walker 42
C E W Silverwood not out 1
M Ali c & b Khan 19

Extras 26

Total: 327 all out after 93.1 overs.

Fall of wicket: 1-11, 2-23, 3-45, 4-45, 5-140, 6-182, 7-210, 8-298, 9-307.

Bowling: Joseph 23-3-67-4, Khan 17.1-3-58-4, Cook 15-1-48-0, Kemp 12-1-51-1, Stevens 9-1-19-0, Patel 12-1-52-0, Walker 5-1-18-1.

Kent second innings:

R W T Key not out 15
D P Fulton not out 19

Extras 8

Total: 42 without loss after 17 overs

Bowling: Louw 3-0-11-0, Silverwood 5-0-10-0, Wright 3-0-10-0, Ali 3-0-5-0, Dalrymple 3-1-3-0.

Bonus points: Middlesex 6pts Kent 6pts.

* MARK PENNELL'S FINAL DAY REPORT WILL APPEAR HERE AT THE CLOSE OF PLAY.