Rob Yates hits double-ton to power Warwickshire to big lead in Kent
A double-century from Rob Yates put Warwickshire in a commanding position after day two of their LV= Insurance County Championship game with Kent at Canterbury.
The visitors declared their first innings on 549 for seven, a lead of 378, before reducing Kent to 55 for one at stumps.
Yates hit his highest first-class score of 228 not out from 421 balls, with 23 fours and a six, having batted for nearly nine hours. Australia’s Glenn Maxwell made 81 in his first championship appearance for four years and Henry Brookes was unbeaten on 52 as the visitors dominated throughout.
Chris Rushworth bowled Tawanda Muyeye early in Kent’s second innings and although Ben Compton and Joe Denly survived till the close, the hosts are still 323 behind with two days remaining.
A delighted Yates said: “It’s a real special day.
“It’s nice to get a career-best score and it’s put us in a real good position and set us up nicely for the next two days.
“It’s a bit of a slow pitch and it takes a bit more to get going but Maxi came in today and got the cogs going in terms of the scoring rate and on that surface it was pretty helpful.
“I think that’s why there were no worries last night or even this morning.
“We’d set a foundation and with Burgess coming in at eight, he’s a genuine all-rounder.
“We’re in a really nice position now.
Elsew,ere Central Sparks and Western Storm suffered frustration in the Second City as their Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy fixture at Moseley CC was washed out.
Despite the field at Streetsbrook Road having taken four inches of rain since Saturday, the ground was ready for a prompt start at 11am until a ferocious downpour struck at 10.45am.
A series of further torrential showers followed, leaving standing water on sections of the outfield and leading to the match being abandoned at 1.15pm.
Sparks were denied the chance to build on their strong start to the resumption of the RHT which had sprung them to second place while the washout cost Storm a much-needed chance to garner points to climb away from the foot of the table.
The frustration was deep too for Moseley CC who were hosting their first Sparks first team game. They did everything possible to get the match on but were defeated by the tropical downpours.
