The County Championship season has reached its penultimate stage, and Kent's promotion bid got off to a promising start as they took on Gloucestershire at Canterbury. The visitors were dismissed for 229 after choosing to bat first, with Matt Milnes leading the charge with four wickets for just 55 runs. James Bracey top-scored with 86, while Ollie Price made 52 in a stand worth 62 with Tom Boorman before being broken by Ekansh Singh shortly before lunch.
The hosts, who need 20 points to guarantee promotion, chose to bowl on a track that was described as 'green' and difficult to see the edges of the strip. However, it didn't seem to affect their bowling too much, with Milnes striking in the second over to dismiss Joe Phillips wafting him to Sam Northeast at first slip.
Gloucestershire responded well, but Kent's bowlers kept chipping away, with Khaled Ahmed getting Miles Hammond for 14 and Keith Dudgeon having Price lbw. Kamran Dhariwal was also dismissed by Milnes for just two runs before Daaryoush Ahmed was bowled by Khaled for four.
However, Matt Taylor helped Gloucestershire to 208-8 at tea, with Boorman coming out as a runner for Bracey after he had been hit on the leg earlier in the day. The ninth wicket partnership between Bracey and Taylor added 58 runs before Milnes wrapped up the innings with two wickets in four balls.
The visitors were eventually dismissed for 229, but Kent's batsmen made a solid start to their innings, with Ben Compton and Sam Northeast not out on 33 and 27 respectively at stumps. The hosts will look to build on this momentum and take control of the game as they aim to secure promotion.
