Canterbury defeat beckons as visitors crumble to 196 all out

8:46am Monday 14th July 2008

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A disappointing day with the bat and ball left Yorkshire needing to produce something special to beat Kent at Canterbury today.

A second batting collapse in the LV County Championship division one clash meant Yorkshire could only set the home side 140 to win.

With Kent trailing by 122 runs at the start of play, Yorkshire were confident of taking the early wickets they needed to turn up the pressure.

However, captain Rob Key hit 157 and Yasir Arafat ended unbeaten on 90 as the home side clawed themselves back into the game.

When Yorkshire finally bowled them out for 467, the home side had built up a lead of 57 runs.

At that stage there was little to worry about on a pitch which had yielded 877 runs in two innings.

However, the Tykes failed to show the composure or calmness they needed at the crease, as poor shot selection and brilliant fielding took the game away from them.

There was little sign of the dramatic collapse at first, despite Adam Lyth falling for eight to Yasir Arafat as fellow opener Andrew Gale looked in good form.

Gale, who made 36, was joined in the middle by captain Anthony McGrath and together they put on 60. But when McGrath fell for 25 to Azhar Mahmood, Yorkshire crumbled.

Andrew Gale was back in the pavilion soon after, caught behind by Geraint Jones off James Tredwell, leaving the Tykes on 72-3 – a lead of only 15. The situation deteriorated when Gary Ballance only made five before being trapped lbw trying to play Arafat across the line.

There was brief respite from Jacques Rudolph and Gerard Brophy, but nobody could go on to get the big score so desperately needed.

After Rudolph fell for 47, with the score on 176-6, Yorkshire’s resolve was broken. Between them Adil Rashid, Tim Bresnan and Rana Naved could only add 20.

The rout was completed soon after when Deon Kruis was brilliantly caught at slip by Justin Kemp off Arafat. The rapid demise left Yorkshire all out for only 196.

With a lead of only 139 runs they will have to produce an excellent bowling performance today to avoid a second successive four-day defeat.