Jones the Bat upstaged Jones the Ball as Geraint of that clan, in the form of his life, reached an unbeaten 107 to extend his purple sequence to 621 championship runs from his past ten innings and rescue Kent from 68 for three.
Steffan Jones claimed two of those scalps in his first seven overs and had three for 29 when rain ended play at tea.
Had his colleagues bowled a better length, they might have justified Derbyshire’s decision to bowl on a mottled pitch of pace and bounce but his namesake, playing freely in making his fifth hundred of the season, from 152 balls, would have been a match for most. With an innings that included 12 fours and a six, he has certainly further dented Derbyshire’s fast-fading hopes of promotion.
Kent: First Innings
S A Northeast c Hinds b Lungley 7
*R W T Key lbw b Jones 30
†G O Jones not out 107
M van Jaarsveld c Hinds b Jones 4
D I Stevens c Sadler b Lungley 16
J M Kemp c Pipe b Jones 19
A J Blake not out 30
Extras (lb 11, nb 8) 19
Total (5 wkts, 64 overs) 232
J C Tredwell, S J Cook, A Khan and P Edwards to bat.
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Fall of wickets: 1-34, 2-46, 3-68, 4-121, 5-158.
Bowling: Lungley 14-1-46-2; Wagg 13-1-64-0; Jones 16-5-29-3; Groenewald 12-1-45-0; Smith 6-0-27-0; Park 3-0-10-0.
Derbyshire: *C J L Rogers, W L Madsen, G T Park, G M Smith, W W Hinds, J L Sadler, †D J Pipe, G G Wagg, T D Groenewald, T Lungley, P S Jones.
Umpires: T E Jesty and V A Holder.