County Championship: Sam Billings career-best century puts Kent in control
Last updated on .From the section Counties
| Specsavers County Championship Division Two, Bristol County Ground, day three |
| Gloucestershire 221 & 34-4: Stevens 3-11 |
| Kent 533-6 dec: Billings 171, Stevens 140; Norwell 2-88 |
| Glos 2 pts, Kent 8 pts |
| Scorecard |
Sam Billings hit a first-class career best of 171 as Kent built a commanding lead against Gloucestershire.
Wicketkeeper Billings hit 29 fours and one six in his innings, with Darren Stevens (140) and Will Gidman (58 not out) helping Kent declare on 533-6.
Stevens then took 3-11 to reduce the hosts to 34-4, still needing 278 more to avoid an innings defeat.
The all-rounder got rid of Chris Dent for one, William Tavare for a nine-ball duck and Michael Klinger for 10.
It was a memorable day for Stevens who had earlier shared 258 runs with Billings to set a Kent record for the fifth wicket.
Kent's Sam Billings told BBC Radio Kent:
"It was good to get the job done and it was great to spend some time with Darren [Stevens] out there. With two attacking players, you don't normally see that kind of partnership.
"The new ball is so key, you have to bowl well and just be patient. It's one of those where you have to squeeze the life out of an opposition and I think they just didn't quite do that with us.
"It's been a lot of Joe Denly, Sam Northeast and Daniel Bell-Drummond this year, so it's nice for all of us to come together and really put in a strong performance."
