Story A dream to lead Australia [ICC III]

[Highlander999]

Wow man. That is a superb start to the story. Never seen presentation this way, nice and unique.

Arafat can bat, so you should be looking for at least 350. Great stuff Matt, keep this up

 

[Mad Snake]

a good total Matt, looking good!

 

[shantanu_rooney]

Good start by Kent on day one of the match...Key and Dexter played really well and also Arafat can bat a bit so 350 odd is on the cards. KUTGW great presentation...

 

[mattfb]

Sussex vs Kent
County championship day 2

Day 2 didn’t start the way I was hoping when Patel was dismissed early for 20 caught by Adams. I’m not angry though. We need quick runs and that’s exactly what he was trying to do. Henderson fell soon after and all of a sudden we were 9 out. Arafat was still in looking quite solid and I made it clear I want him to have most of the strike.

Arafat fell about 6 overs later for 37. It was a good knock as he scored fast today and managed to keep most of the strike. We ended up bowled out for 355 which I feel may be a little short but hopefully we can get a few early wickets to put Sussex under pressure.

To my delight, we did strike early when Saggers clean bowled former international star Goodwin for 9. It was the perfect start for us as it meant we had them under pressure with the score at 1/21. We went into lunch with the score at 1/34 and the lunch break means Sagger and Henderson can keep operating for another 5 or 6 overs each now.

Sussex fought back really well with a 100 run partnership between opener Montgomerie and Yardy. But Patel broke the partnership when he had Yardy caught behind on 47. It was a great ball and ended a threatening partnership.
With just a few overs left to Tea we decided to bring on Saggers and go on a full out attack to try get a wicket. His first over of the spell was a maiden then with the first ball of the final over before tea Saggers got Adams for 12 as Dexter took the catch at slip. Saggers was bowling full and putting the pressure on the batsmen and he got one to swing away which caught the edge of Adams bat and Dexter took a sharp catch.

So we went into Tea with the upper hand as Sussex were looking a little nervous with the score at 3/142. They still trailed by 213 runs and knew we wouldn’t hold back in this last session as I told the boys it would be ideal to have them 5 or 6, or even 7 down by the close of play and hopefully still trailing by 100 or so. It was a tough ask but I was confident they could do it.

It was not the start I wanted after Tea as Sussex put on 80 runs in just over an hour but McLaren broke the partnership when he got the vital wicket of Nash. He was looking in good touch and we needed a wicket to get back in this game.

Dexter had M’jenkins a few overs later as his medium pacers were to hot to handle and M’jenkins played all around a straight one. We were getting into there tail at that point and the chances of having them 6 or 7 down started looking for hopeful. The threatening thing was that Montgomerie was still at the crease on 96.

But I realised it wasn’t too much of a problem, as we were playing around him. He can’t bat if he runs out of partners and Dexter was helping that cause as he bowled Henderson for 3. This was a vital spell by Dexter as had his second victim also bowled.

But to our relief Dexter didn’t have to play around Montgomerie as he, once again, had him bowled. Yes that’s right, Dexter had another victim bowled. It was a great innings of 114 but he got a bit carried away trying to lift the tempo and missed a good ball.

At the end of the day we were in the ideal position. We had Sussex 7/247 and we lead by 104. It was exactly what I asked for but we couldn’t have done it without Dexter who finished the day with the outstanding figures of 8 overs 3-12 to go with his 50 in the first innings. I’m hoping we can finish them off before lunch now we are into the tail and bat for most of day 3, if not all of it to get a substantial lead then look to bowl Sussex out on the last day.

Dexter bowled really good today, putting the balls in all the right areas and making it difficult to score runs. The Sussex batsmen only scored off 6 of his balls in his 8 over spell.

Neil Dexter hit all the right areas


Sussex 7/204 trail by 104 runs
Dexter 3/12
Saggers 2/54

 

[gutterman]

superb bowling by dexter. these last three wickets should fall quickly. great pres mate kutgw

 

[shantanu_rooney]

Brilliant bowling by allrounder Dexter. he performed with the bat and know also with the ball thats brilliant. Love the pitchmap...KUTGW

 

[Highlander999]

Kent are all over Sussex at the moment, the perfect start to your first match in charge. Dexter really performed with the ball and bat. He has put it in the right places.

Awesome work mate, a great read :cool:

 

[Karachi Xpress]

Great bowling by Dexter. You guys are just killing Sussex!

Nice stuff! KUTGW!

 

[surendar]

Overall a good bowling performance not only from Neil. Lets see.. And brilliant presentation, Matt :hpraise keep it up

 

[Roofrom50]

Good presentation matt, keep up the good work mate :happy

 

[mattfb]

Sussex vs Kent
County Championship day 3

Today started perfect. We opened the bowling with Dexter and with the first ball of the day he had Ahmed caught plumb in front. Saggers opening the bowling at the other end made sure Dexter didn’t get a chance to rest as Lowe popped one up to him. It was a sitter of a catch but Dexter just can’t stay out of the game. Unfortunately he didn’t pick up his 5fer as Saggers took the last wicket with his second over of the day to get his 4fer. So we knocked over Sussex much quicker then I had expected or even hoped. Seems we took the last 3 wickets in 4 overs it gives us all of day 3 to bat. Hopefully we can put on about 300 runs to give Sussex 400 to chase on the last day.

When Key and V’arsveld walked out we were hoping for another good opening partnership and it was looking promising until Key got out for 10. It was a good piece of bowling and the in-swing deceived Key and got his stumps knocked out.

After about 15 overs V’arsveld started uping the tempo and along with Dexter was going along nicely. The partnership had developed to 38 but then Dexter got caught by Lowe off the bowling of Ahemd for 18. It left us at 2/69 with a lead of 164 so we weren’t panicking. That wasn’t until V’asrveld got out 2 overs later just 5 minutes from lunch for 33. I was angry at this as I can’t stress enough how important it is not to lose wickets in bunches. Stevens and Denly played out the last 2 overs and at Lunch we were 3/78 leading by 173 runs.

Denly got out not long after Lunch for 13. The only bonus of this was it meant our bowlers were licking there lips at the assistance this pitch was starting to give. The bounce was getting a tiny bit inconsistent which could prove a problem for Sussex. The score is 4/98.

McLaren and Stevens were going along nicely as well but like every other partnership someone got out. Stevens this time, for 28 gave Ahmed his 3rd wicket and Adams his second catch of the innings when he chipped one to mid on when he was on 28. In came Jones with a lot of pressure on his shoulders.

Well, it wasn’t Jones who cracked, it was McLaren. Ahmed is becoming too difficult to face at the moment as he picks up his 4th wicket. He is spinning it a lot as he showed then when he spun it a long way to get through McLarens shot. Jones and Arafat played brilliantly and took as through to Tea with a partnership of 52. Jones is going well with 34no and the score 6/205. We currently have a 300 run lead and I think 350 will be enough.

We came out of Tea playing more freely with Arafat smashing a quick 25 runs before getting out to Ahmed for 49. It was a good innings and a good partnership which has gotten us to 240 already. Jones and Patel carried on excellently, smashing runs all-round the ground. Patel raced to 29 before getting bowled with the score at 8/306 and the lead just a tad over 400. We were hoping Jones would get to 100 before the day was out but when Sussex took the new ball he slowed down and finished the day on 90

Kent 8/306 lead by 402
Jones 90 not out

 

[gutterman]

you gotta start thinking about the declaration. dont want to leave it too long otherwise there will be less chance of bowling Sussex out

 

[Jaztheman]

Fantastic presentation, Matt. You've got to let Jones get his 100 at least.

 

[Karachi Xpress]

Jones batting really good and Kent have a really good lead now! You should look at declaring after Jones' century!

Nice stuff! KUTGW!!