Bubbly Kent delight in Viljoen’s hostile debut

Kent 533 for 6 dec (Billings 171, Stevens 140) beat Gloucestershire 221 (Marshall 58, Viljoen 5-55) and 243 (Marshall 118, Viljoen 3-66, Stevens 3-45)Scorecard

It says a lot about this Kent side that they were able to keep their patience on the final day against Gloucestershire. The matter at hand was simple: six wickets in three sessions, plenty of overs with a second new ball and Michael Klinger already back in the hutch. But Gloucestershire fought hard to stave off defeat, taking the game into a third session to really test the patience of a young Kent spine.

But in previous years, when Championship cricket might have been regarded as a nuisance, today it was evident just how much it meant to Kent. While the bowlers started too wide, they improved their lines throughout the day and, with Sam Northeast constantly changing an energetic field to employ tactics that came good, there was something that told you that Kent would see this home.

The wicket of Jack Taylor perhaps summed up the quality of the collective work. Having fed him full deliveries after lunch, Northeast urged his bowlers to test out the batsman’s patience when the ball was bouncing up at head height. Matt Coles served up a sharp bouncer, bounding down the slope from the Ashley Down Road End, the shot came and with it the edge through to Sam Billings.

“Knowing that Essex at won last night was interesting for the guys,” said Northeast. “It meant a bit of extra pressure. But we’re playing some serious good cricket at the moment – this bowling attack keeps …

continue reading in source www.espncricinfo.com