Aitchinson bowls Derbyshire to emphatic win over Kent
A magnificent spell of pace bowling by Ben Aitchison put a dent in Kent’s promotion challenge and took Derbyshire to a dramatic 181 run victory in the Rothesay County Championship match at Derby.
Aitchison was irresistible as he took the first five wickets on the fourth morning at the OurCoop County Ground, finishing with figures of 5 for 44.
To their credit, Kent fought to the end through Chris Benjamin, 32 from 115 balls, and Ekansh Singh, 59 from 86, in a sixth wicket stand of 91 in 29 overs before Grant Stewart and Bertie Foreman displayed more defiance.
The pair faced 169 balls, adding 74, before Martin Andersson pinned Stewart lbw for 65 but Foreman took Kent tantalisingly close to safety only to be pinned lbw by Shoaib Bashir for 38 from 148 balls.
With only two overs left, Brett Randell had Hasan Mahmud caught behind to shatter Kent's hopes of pulling off what would have been a great escape.
Derbyshire head of cricket Mickey Arthur said the win was just reward for the hard work his side has been putting in.
"That's testimony to the hard work the guys have put in, we were in a dark place last week,” he said. "To come out and perform exceptionally well over the four days is testimony to the determination and the will to win but more important the will to succeed and I'm very proud of that dressing room at the moment.
"Throughout the whole year we haven't been able to squeeze over the line and we've played some really good cricket so this means so much. The hardest shot in cricket is hitting the winning run and the hardest thing when you bowl is taking the last wicket and I thought it was a real examination for our guys and they've come out of it really well "