Nathan Gilchrist becomes latest Kent player to self-isolate
Rain limits play on second day as Kent close first-innings gap on Sussex
ECB Reporters' Network
12-Jul-2021
Jamie Atkins picked up his fourth wicket of the innings • Getty Images
Kent 122 for 7 trail Sussex 181 (Singh 4-51) by 59 runs
Kent moved to 122 for 7 on day two of their LV= Insurance County Championship match with Sussex at Canterbury, cutting the visitors lead to 59 on a day when just an hour and 20 minutes of play was possible.
Jamie Atkins has 4 for 31 after taking one of the two wickets to fall, while Sean Hunt has 1 for 23 after removing Kent's top scorer, Harry Podmore, for 37.
Kent's already depleted squad endured another withdrawal when first-team bowler Nathan Gilchrist, who took 2 for 24 during Sussex's first innings, was told to self-isolate, earning a call-up for Bailey Wightman, who became the sixth Kent debutant of the match.
The start was delayed until 2.15 pm thanks to a damp outfield, by which point dark clouds were already rolling in.
After a chaotic start to Canterbury Week on Sunday, when 14 members of the first-team squad were forced to isolate after an unnamed player tested positive for COVID, the hosts resumed on 69 for 5, trailing by 112. They lost Finch to the third ball of the day, lbw for 24 to Atkins, but rallied, thanks to a stand of 50 for the seventh wicket between Podmore and Hamid Qadri.
Podmore was dropped on 7 and 14, but responded with a controlled but punchy innings of 37 that included a six over cow corner before he was caught by Oliver Carter off Hunt.
Qadri had moved to 12 not out from 46 balls when bad light stopped play at 3.35pm, with Wightman unbeaten on nought, having faced four balls. With rain falling and no prospect of improvement, the umpires abandoned play for the day at 4.50pm.
