Yorkshire v Kent, Scarborough, 1st day

Denly thrives in Yorkshire's heartland

John Ward at Scarborough

July 25, 2007

Kent 135 for 2 (Denly 60*) v Yorkshire
Scorecard

Joe Denly withstood Yorkshire's opening attack © Getty Images

Scarborough is still one of the most enthusiastic heartlands of county cricket in England, and despite the gloomy weather and interrupted play, the match was well supported by an appreciative crowd.

Kent batted on winning the toss after a 45-minute delay, and Denly and Rob Key did well to survive an intense opening burst from Darren Gough and Jason Gillespie. Only five runs, two of them leg-byes, came from the first five overs, survival being the wise policy. But the rain returned in the ninth over, with the score 21 for 0.

It was enough to prevent further play until 4.30pm. The bowling continued to threaten, while the batsmen waited patiently for the bad ball to put away - good traditional cricket. Despite the rain, the outfield proved quick and the batsmen began to reap the reward of their application. Denly impressed with some handsome straight drives, as well as scoring freely off his legs.

Eventually Tim Bresnan, who had beaten the batsmen several times as he moved the ball away, found the edge of Key's bat to have him caught at the wicket for 21. Soon after, he removed Martin van Jaarsveld in exactly the same way for 5. Survival was not easy against generally fine bowling with bounce and movement.

Bresnan was less effective against the left-handed James Tredwell, who nevertheless initially struggled to score. In the meantime, Denly completed an impressive fifty off 81 balls with another well-timed drive to the boundary wide of mid-on.

Both batsmen became stuck with their team total in the nineties, but the arrival of Adil Rashid, who did not immediately settle down, put them on course again. Mark Lawson, another legspinner, came on to bowl in tandem with him, but his first over cost 13 runs. The pitch offered them turn, but the gamble did not on this occasion pay off and Kent were no doubt quite happy with their position at the close.

The future of this match depends on the weather, but the forecast for the second day is discouraging. If the rain keeps away, it could be a cracker.

© Cricinfo

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Matches

Yorkshire v Kent at Scarborough

Players/Umpires

Tim Bresnan

Joe Denly

Series/Tournaments

County Championship Division One

Teams

England

Kent

Yorkshire