Nottinghamshire v Kent

Kent’s comeback cricketers continued to rally on day two of this LV Championship game by reducing Nottinghamshire to 106-2.

At the mid-way point of the game Nottinghamshire hold a valuable 70-run lead, this after Kent came up on the rails to land a shock 36-run advantage on first innings.

Second time around and on an easing Trent Bridge pitch, the East Midland’s side attempted to bat more aggressively but were losing wickets as they went.

With 27 on the board giant opener Will Jefferson (8) pushed half-forward at one from Ryan McLaren that nipped back off the seam to snare the right-hander lbw.

After four cracking off-side boundaries Mark Wagh (21) went in near identical fashion, this time though the off-cutter came from Yasir Arafat, who had replaced McLaren at the Radcliffe Road End.

Matt Wood posted a 78-ball 50 just before the close as he and No4 Adam Voges (23) began to look more comfortable against the softening ball.

Kent’s ‘tail’ had wagged merrily through to the tea interval to help their side to 238 after 76.2 overs - an advantage of 36 runs; this in losing three wickets in each of the day’s first two sessions.

Top-scorer Arafat was 10th man out for 67, leaving last man Martin Saggers unbeaten on 11.

Left-hander McLaren and right-hander Arafat had worked hard for their runs, the former straight driving with aplomb while Arafat cut and pulled well during an eighth-wicket stand worth 67 in 17 overs.

McLaren hit a 99-ball half-century and Arafat reached the landmark from only 70 balls but, just as the lead was in sight, McLaren went for 57 - his highest championship score for the county.

Needlessly cutting at a wide one from Mark Ealham, the Kolpak all-rounder got a thin bottom edge through to the keeper.

Robbie Joseph came in and hooked a Stuart Broad bouncer to long leg, where Sidebottom parried a one-handed diving chance to the rope to post Kent’s 200 and their only batting bonus point.

Kent were 10 runs ahead when Sidebottom returned to have Joseph (12) caught behind after he followed one going across his body, giving the left-armer figures of 5-55.

The visitors’ innings finally ended just after 4pm when Arafat, pushing at a turning ball from left-arm spinner Samit Patel, edged to slip where Ealham took a sharp low chance.

Having resumed on their parlous overnight score of 33-4, the visitors added a further 75 runs through to lunch losing three wickets in the process.

Sidebottom claimed his fourth of the innings in his third over of the day when left-handed James Tredwell (10), covering the line of middle stump to an away-swinger, allowed the ball through to peg back the top of off stump.

Broad replaced Charlie Shreck at the Pavilion End and, after a wayward start, dismissed Justin Kemp in his second over of the game.

Pushing tentatively forward in defence Kemp failed to account for a little extra bounce and snicked a low chance to Voges at slip.

Geraint Jones, whose first five scoring shots were boundaries, then dug in with McLaren but, in the last over before lunch, Jones (34) pushed well forward in defence only to edge to counterpart Chris Read.