26 Apr,2026
2 hours ago
Worcestershire seamer Tom Taylor has taken 14 wickets this season in the Rothesay County Championship, Division Two, at Visit Worcestershire New Road, Worcester (day three).
Kent scored 196 & 249: Benjamin 77; Taylor 5-56.
Worcestershire 447: D'Oliveira 90; Milnes 4-81.
Worcestershire (23 pts) beat Kent (2 pts) by an innings and two runs.
Worcestershire completed an innings-and-two-run demolition of Kent on the third day of their County Championship fixture at New Road. Brett D'Oliveira's side followed up an impressive win over Middlesex at Lord's with another strong performance to see off a Kent side which was second-best in all departments and remains without a win after three games.
After Worcestershire's first innings ended at 447 in the first over of the day, Kent were bowled out a second time for 249. Seventh-wicket pair Chris Benjamin (77) and Keith Dudgeon (41) added 71 but none of the top six passed 31, three of them swept away by Tom Taylor who finished with 5-56.
Worcestershire resumed on the third morning on 441-9 and added just six runs before Olly Hannon-Dalby was bowled by Matt Parkinson. That left Kent needing to find 251 to avoid an innings defeat and effectively to bat for the best part of two days.
Their hopes of doing so soon evaporated with the loss of four wickets in 17 overs. Taylor took the first three in a sizzling opening spell of 7-1-27-3. Ben Dawkins, a substitute for Ben Compton who has a dislocated finger, edged to Ethan Brookes at second slip. Sam Northeast nicked to wicketkeeper Gareth Roderick and Tawanda Muyeye was lbw playing across the line.
Zak Crawley, having been dropped on eight by Taylor at mid-on off Hannon-Dalby, collected 31 from 57 balls but then drove at a wide ball from Beyers Swanepoel and inside-edged to Roderick. Daniel Bell-Drummond (30) and Joey Evison added 36 up to lunch but the interval merely delayed Kent's implosion.
Bell-Drummond fell lbw to the second ball of the afternoon, a Hannon-Dalby in-ducker. Taylor quickly added his fourth wicket when Evison supplied Roderick's eighth victim of the match. Milnes edged Matthew Waite to second slip where Brookes took another fine catch.
Benjamin and Dudgeon showed degrees of application and judgment that had eluded their top-order colleagues. They added 71 in 23 overs but Taylor had not finished.
He prised enough movement from a 51-overs old ball to find Dudgeon's edge and supply Roderick with his ninth catch of the game, equalling the record for a Worcestershire 'keeper.
When Swanepoel plucked out Parkinson's off-stump, last pair Benjamin and Mikey Cohen had to find 31 to make Worcestershire bat again - and a few more to set them a challenging target.
Benjamin swung D'Oliveira over mid-wicket for six but Brookes wrapped up the innings with an lbw decision against Cohen on the stroke of tea.
Report by ECB Reporters' Network, supported by Rothesay.
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