Tawanda Muyeye produced a fluent century to guide Kent to a two-wicket victory over Gloucestershire on the final day of a gripping County Championship Division Two match at the Seat Unique Stadium in Bristol.
The hosts resumed their second innings on 251-9, adding 11 runs before Ed Middleton was dismissed for 22, setting Kent a target of 261. James Taylor took the final wicket, finishing with 4-54 and match figures of 10-106 on his Kent debut.
Kent’s chase started poorly, slipping to 24-2, but Muyeye followed his first-innings 90 with an impressive 108 off 129 balls. He received solid support from Daniel Bell-Drummond (38) and Chris Benjamin (42) as Kent reached 261-8. Gabe Bell was the pick of the Gloucestershire bowlers with 4-87.
The visitors secured 21 points from their second Championship win of the season, while Gloucestershire managed just five points from their fourth defeat in five matches.
Play began under overcast skies, and Bell quickly added boundaries off Keith Dudgeon before Middleton edged Taylor to Sam Northeast at second slip. That gave Taylor, a 25-year-old on a two-match loan from Surrey, career-best match figures. Despite an excellent pitch that rewarded both bat and ball, Kent faced a challenging run chase.
Kent progressed to 22 in the fifth over when Ben Dawkins drove at Bell and was well caught low at point by Ben Charlesworth. Two runs later, Zak Crawley departed for 17, bowled by Bell attempting a big leg-side shot.
Gloucestershire’s hopes of pressing home their advantage were thwarted by Northeast and Muyeye, with the latter counter-attacking, hitting three fours in a Matt Taylor over. Will Williams finished a testing six-over opening spell with 1-9, but by the time rain interrupted play at 12:35 BST, Kent had advanced to 64-2 from 18 overs, with Muyeye on 32.
Northeast was on four and fell lbw pushing forward to Williams on the resumption. Under dark clouds, Kent’s middle order faced a tough task. Muyeye reached his second fifty of the match off 60 balls, with nine fours, looking confident throughout. He found a solid partner in skipper Bell-Drummond, and they gradually put Kent in a strong position.
Bell-Drummond hit six crisp boundaries before being bowled by Bell. At 146-4, Kent still needed 115, and the game hung in the balance. Both Muyeye and Benjamin, who had also looked good in the first innings, pushed the score to 173-4 at tea.
The final session saw Muyeye bring up his hundred with his 17th four, guided through backward point off Williams. Having narrowly missed a century in the first innings, the 25-year-old celebrated by leaping and punching the air before raising his bat and helmet to the skies. But he fell soon after, caught behind driving at Matt Taylor.
At 204-5, Kent needed 57. That was reduced to 30 when Benjamin was bowled by Bell off an inside edge. Ekansh Singh made 18 before being caught at short mid-wicket off Williams, and Dudgeon departed with a poor shot, skying a top-edge off the same bowler. However, Joey Evison and Taylor saw Kent over the line, with Taylor hitting the winning boundary.
