Davies makes 99 as Lancashire take control against Kent

Lancashire finished the second day of their LV= County Championship match against Kent in a commanding position, scoring 444 in their first innings before reducing the visitors to 214/7. 

Alex Davies made back-to-back career-best scores for Lancashire after scoring 89 against Derbyshire last week, but he was denied a maiden first-class century when he departed for 99 to Mitchell Claydon (4-103). Kyle Jarvis continued his scintillating form claiming 3-35 as he then led Lancashire's efforts with the ball to put a dent in Kent's progress.

Debutant Jordan Clark failed to add to his overnight score of 16 when he fell to the first ball of the second day, edging Darren Stevens to Sam Billings, who went on to finish with six catches in the innings.

Davies continued to play fluently off the back of a career-best score against Derbyshire but it did take him 66 balls to progress from 40 to his fifth four-day half-century, a milestone he eventually reached in 151 deliveries.

The Lancashire wicketkeeper had played with a somewhat reserved approach after taking 35 minutes to move from 47 to his half-century, but after he passed fifty he opened up his shoulders and helped guide the hosts to 350 for their fourth batting point.

Davies hit another eight boundaries on his way towards a three-figure score which sadly alluded the 20-year-old who added 55 runs with Tom Bailey after Peter Siddle was removed by Ivan Thomas for 12.

Claydon finished with four wickets for Kent.

After bowling 24 overs without a wicket, Thomas forced Siddle into an edge behind to Billings, but Bailey (24) played another mature innings for a tail-end batsman as he assisted Davies towards what would have been a deserved century.

Davies made another career-best score when he hit Claydon for a successive boundaries in the first over of his new spell, but Claydon and Kent went on to have the last laugh - especially after they felt aggrieved not to have Davies out yesterday evening for a catch at gully.

Needing just one more run to achieve a maiden first-class century, Davies was tempted into driving the ball through the covers, but he edged the ball to Matt Coles at second slip as he was cruelly denied his hundred with the score at 399/8.

Lancashire's tail-enders enhanced the lead further still as Jarvis hit an unbeaten 26 in 17 deliveries including a six off Adam Riley. Having claimed the precious wicket of Davies, Claydon mopped-up the tail when Bailey's top-edge landed safely in the hands of Billings, who then took a routine catch when Simon Kerrigan (10) edged through to the Kent keeper, as Lancashire were all out for 444.

Daniel Bell-Drummond and Joe Denly resumed after a delayed lunch interval with the Manchester sunshine beating down as it had for the first four sessions of the match and these conditions continued to offer assistance to the batsmen as Kent started their first innings in a promising manner.

A first-wicket partnership worth 62 runs between Bell-Drummond and Denly, who both made 28, was somewhat dejecting for Lancashire, as their opening bowlers Peter Siddle and Tom Bailey failed to make an early breakthrough.

The Kent openers did experience their own share of luck, as the normally dependable hands of Steven Croft failed to hold onto an edge off the bowling of Siddle, but the introduction of Zimbabwean Jarvis brought success for Lancashire as he struck with his thirteenth ball of the day.

Bell-Drummond had survived a run-out chance when Jordan Clark failed to hit any one of the three stumps on show, but the Kent opener fell the very next ball to Jarvis when he edged to the slips, as Croft made up for his early mistake to start a purple patch for the hosts.

Jarvis was in the wickets again for Lancashire as
he claimed 3 for 12 to restrict Kent's progress.

Jarvis then removed Kent captain Rob Key 12 balls later after he had edged the ball through the slips for four off his first delivery, this time finding Davies, who had to dive forward to take the catch as the ball died on its way through to the keeper.

The fast bowler claimed his third wicket for 12 runs, continuing a rampant spell as he then accounted for the remaining Kent opener, forcing Denly to edge to Paul Horton at first slip, after he had reached 6,000 first-class runs.

Including the figures of 5-13 against Derbyshire last week, at one stage Jarvis had recent figures of eight wickets for 25 runs, after he claimed three wickets for 12 runs today.

Matters went from bad to worse for Kent when they lost their fourth wicket for just 31 runs as debutant Clark claimed his maiden first-class wicket, removing Brendan Nash for 16 when the left-hander needlessly chased at a wide delivery and edged to Davies.

After a nightmare spell for Kent, Darren Stevens and Sam Northeast put on a partnership worth 55 runs, scoring these runs at a good pace as well as they reached the fifty partnership in just 72 balls. Stevens has a good record against Lancashire and was responsible for ending their unbeaten run in 2013 when he hit a double-hundred at Canterbury to help Kent chase 418.

On this occasion he played a secondary role in his stand with Northeast, who made 70 in the aforementioned game, as Stevens was dropped on 14 just after tea by Simon Kerrigan fielding at mid-wicket.

Siddle claimed his first wicket for Lancashire at Old Trafford
when he had Stevens trapped lbw.

Fortunately this drop didn't cost Lancashire too much as Siddle trapped Stevens lbw with only one more run added to his tally. The Kent all-rounder shouldered arms as the ball jagged back into the right-hander and Stevens started to walk towards the dressing room before the umpire had chance to raise his finger, awarding Siddle with his first wicket for the Red Rose at Old Trafford.

Conditions continued to deteriorate in Manchester as the day progressed but Lancashire made another timely breakthrough when Sam Billings became the third batsmen to fall for a score 28. Northeast (48*) set-off for a quick single but he left Billings high and dry as Alviro Petersen gathered and threw the ball to Davies who whipped of the bails to end their partnership worth 42 runs.

The floodlights became a very necessary feature as conditions became unfriendly for batting, although this could not be blamed for the dismissal of Matt Coles who fell with what proved to be the final ball of the day as rain settled in after he was bowled by Kerrigan.

Coles had hit the left-arm spinner for four with a delectable reverse-sweep and in trying to repeat the shot - and the end product - the all-rounder was bowled for 19, signalling the end of the second day with Lancashire very much in control.