Bell-Drummond puts squeeze on Glamorgan

Kent 124 for 0 (Bell-Drummond 62*, Latham 48*) trail Glamorgan 260 (Meschede 63, Claydon 4-59, Coles 3-26) by 136 runs
Scorecard

Kent openers Daniel Bell-Drummond and Tom Latham underlined their international quality in Canterbury where the hosts bossed the opening day of their Specsavers County Championship Division 2 clash with Glamorgan.

Responding to Glamorgan's below par 260 all out, Kent's first-wicket pair cantered to a century stand within 19 overs. Both were still there at stumps with their side sitting pretty on 124 without loss and having cut Glamorgan's lead to 136.

Bell-Drummond, 22, the England Lions right-hander fresh from an unbeaten 206 against Loughborough MCCU in early April and last week's 126 versus Leicestershire, hit eight fours in a 55-ball 50 to be unbeaten on 62 at the close.

Meanwhile, Latham, the 24-year-old New Zealand left-hander with 18 Test caps and who only landed in the UK on Tuesday, purred quality with his crisp straight driving. He hit seven fours on his debut innings of 48 not out through to stumps.

Neither batsman offered a chance and the nearest Glamorgan came to a breakthrough was from a run out in the penultimate over of the day when Bell-Drummond, diving for his ground, was given the benefit against Andrew Salter's direct hit from square leg.

Despite winning the toss on a bright Kentish morning Glamorgan made a miserable start by losing their first wicket only four balls into this, the first championship match at The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence of 2016.

Bowling down the Nackington Road slope Matt Coles got his fourth ball of the day to lift, feather the outside edge of James Kettleborough's bat and give wicketkeeper Adam Rouse the first of his four catches.

Mitch Claydon, bowling with decent pace despite the brevity of his run-up, also extracted extra bounce to account for left-hander Will Bragg, who played on to his off-stump to make it 22 for two.

Jacques Rudolph dug in for 71 minutes without scoring a boundary before Claydon struck again having the South African caught behind off an attempted back-foot force.

After an attractive 45, that included the day's first boundary after 64 minutes' play, Chris Cooke, wafting airily at Coles, was also caught behind to make it 102 for four at lunch.

Two balls after the resumption Coles struck again snaring David Lloyd leg before, but the England Lions' paceman hobbled off with a foot injury soon after, allowing Claydon to complete his over.

Claydon said later: "To lose Matt in the afternoon with a foot injury was a blow, but he came back on and would have bowled had we let him. He was sore and shocked after it happened and feared something quite serious, but he'll get is scanned and we'll all know more by Tuesday. Hopefully it's nothing serious because he's a big part of the side."

In between times, Kent debutant Hugh Bernard, the teenage seamer and 17th Kent Academy graduate to progress through to first-class cricket since 2003, bagged his first wicket by enticing Aneurin Donald to hook into the hands of Sean Dickson at deep square.

Kent might have made further inroads if Joe Denly and Sam Northeast could have held on to slip catches and had Adam Riley clung on at extra cover having seemingly clutched a diving chance off the leading edge of Graham Wagg's bat.

As it was, the three opportunities were spurned, two of them off the bowling of Stevens. Having turned 40 on Saturday, Stevens the first fortysomething to play for the county since Derek Underwood in 1987, had his revenge by having Wagg caught at deep cover as the Glamorgan right-hander attempted to muscle a second straight six.

Craig Meschede cemented the visiting middle-order together in posting a 67-ball 50 with nine fours, but he blotted his copybook shortly before tea by mistiming a drive to mid-off that gifted Bernard a second scalp.

Glamorgan capitulated in the first over after tea when Andrew Salter was caught behind off a ballooned gloved chance, leaving Claydon, the pick of the home attack with four for 59, to trap Harry Podmore leg before for a second ball duck on his first-class debut.