Norwell credits Coles and Haggett in Kent fightback
19 May 2015
Batting continued to be a challenge until mid afternoon at the Bristol County Ground as Gloucestershire threatened to establish a decent first innings lead until a determined eighth wicket stand between left handers Calum Haggett and Matt Coles wrestled the initiative back towards Kent.
The score was 98-7 when Coles walked out to bat in the 41st over, and by the time the stand was broken, he and Haggett had added 119 runs and wiped out the remainder of the Gloucestershire lead.
When rain forced the players off at 5 o'clock, Kent's last pair were together and the lead, although small, was 30 valuable runs.
Click here to hear Liam Norwell's thoughts on the day's play...
The pattern of Monday's post tea session - when Kent took eight wickets - continued for the first half of the day, Gloucestershire taking four of their own before lunch and another two immediately afterwards, Liam Norwell continuing his impressive Championship form.
There was a threat of rain at the start of play....and two sharp showers enveloped the ground during the morning session. The second forced an early lunch, but not before Gloucestershire had responded vigorously to their own short comings with the bat.
Payne and Miles shared the new ball and Payne struck in only his second over, finding the edge of Denly's bat and wicketkeeper Gareth Roderick taking the catch.
A brief rain break also brought about a change in the attack, with Norwell replacing Miles, and the Cornishman again showed commendable control in an economical spell which also produced two wickets.
His only loose delivery saw Bell-Drummond drive him to the mid off boundary, and the opener had, at that stage, looked the most assured of the Kent batsmen when Norwell pitched one further up and Bell- Drummond dragged the ball onto his stumps for 26.
That was Norwell's second success of the morning, Nash having perished to a comfortable slip catch taken by Chris Dent for 12.
Matt Taylor was unable to maintain the stranglehold in a brief stint at the pavilion end, but Noema-Barnett then also made an early contribution, trapping Fabian Cowdrey lbw for 6 in only his second over.
Kent skipper Sam Northeast had taken half an hour before he started to play one or two pleasing strokes, notably off Miles towards the cover boundary but it was Gloucestershire's morning, and whatever was said over lunch produced an immediate double breakthrough afterwards.
Opening up matters at the pavilion end, Miles produced a yorker that was too much for Darren Stevens, and then the recalled Norwell clean bowled Northeast for 21.
When 96 overs had been bowled in the match - the full allocation for 1 day - 16 wickets had gone down for 275, and Billings survived two loud appeals for his dismissal before Payne removed the Kent keeper for 16 with a second catch for Gareth Roderick. There was no reason to think Gloucestershire couldn't get a useful lead, but Matt Coles had other ideas.
The burly seamer, who has a first class century to his name, joined Calum Haggett and playing with a lot of bottom hand in their shots, both men showed commendable application.
Coles opened up profitably to pull and cut Matt Taylor to the boundary, and his most belligerent stroke was to pull Noema- Barnett over deep backward square leg for the first six of the match.
The stand developed frustratingly for Gloucestershire into the largest one of the match, Geraint Jones rotating his bowlers with no further success, although Haggett twice saw shots drop short of Cockbain at point and Payne at deep backward square leg.
By tea, the eighth wicket pair had added 85 in 24 overs, Kent were only 10 runs short of the Gloucestershire first innings total, and Haggett needed only a single to match his career best score in first class cricket.
Coles brought up his fifty off 65 balls with four fours and a six, and it took the occasional left arm spin of Chris Dent to break a stubborn partnership that added 119 vital runs, as Coles, having made 66, gave a tame return catch. It was only Dent's third wicket in a first class match.
Haggett's patience was rewarded with his maiden fifty off 149 balls with four boundaries, before his brave resistance was ended by David Payne slanting a ball across him from around the wicket and Gareth Roderick taking a routine catch.
A cloudburst then forced the players off at 5 o'clock with Kent 30 runs ahead at 223-9 and the last pair together - a position neither side could have envisaged an hour after lunch.
Liam Norwell is sponsored by Mr Michael Abbott
