County Championship stats: Darren Stevens smashes records at age of 45 with sparkling 190 for Kent
Evergreen Kent all-rounder Darren Stevens plunders 190 runs, and 15 sixes, at age of 45; Stevens scores 160 runs in 166-run stand with team-mate Miguel Cummins; Essex spinner Simon Harmer goes wicketless for just second time in English first-class cricket
Monday 24 May 2021 12:15, UK
Sky Cricket's Benedict Bermange has poured over the latest round of LV= Insurance County Championship matches, bringing you top stats on Kent's record-breaking veteran Darren Stevens, who smashed 15 sixes in a staggering innings of 190, and a rare wicketless outing for Simon Harmer...
Leicestershire were all out for just 84 against Hampshire at Southampton, their lowest total against the south coast side since being dismissed for 82 at Leicester in 1968.
In the process, Kyle Abbott took his 250th wicket in English domestic first-class cricket. The last seamer to reach that landmark in the competition with an average of less than 20 runs per wicket before Abbott was Waqar Younis in 1997.
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Darren Stevens became a statistician's delight with his spectacular hitting at Canterbury, scoring 190 out of the 214 runs scored while he was at the crease, setting a new record for the highest percentage of a team's runs while batting, with a minimum of 200 runs:
Stevens' innings of 190 is the highest in first-class cricket by any player aged 45 or over since CK Nayudu hit 200 for Holkar against Baroda at Indore in March 1946 at the age of 50, while the Kent man's haul of 15 sixes is just one short of the record for English first-class cricket:
Stevens added 166 for the ninth wicket with Miguel Cummins, whose share was just a single. Stevens made 160 runs of the partnership, which equates to 96.39%, a new record for any partnership of greater than 150 in first-class cricket. Edwin Alletson made 142 out of his partnership of 152 with William Riley at Hove in 1911 which was the previous record at 93.42%
Rory Burns and Mark Stoneman put on identical first-wicket partnerships of 135 in each innings for Surrey against Middlesex at The Oval. Only one pair has ever shared a pair of higher, identical partnerships in a first-class match - Chris Smith and Gordon Greenidge putting on 152 twice for Hampshire at Derbyshire in 1986.
Remarkably, Burns and Stoneman are the third pair to share a pair of 135 partnerships in the same match:
Surrey's first innings collapse which saw them lose six wickets for just seven runs is their worst collapse of their first six wickets since they went from 33-0 to 37-6 against Middx at The Oval in 1903.
This week's match marked the first occasion in which both Surrey openers had passed fifty in both innings of a first-class match since Darren Bicknell and Rehan Alikhan performed the feat against Nottinghamshire in 1991.
For just the second time in his 53-match English domestic first-class career for Essex, Simon Harmer failed to take a wicket in the match. The only other occasion was at Canterbury in August 2019 when he wasn't needed as Kent were dismissed for just 226 and 40 in their two innings.
Rain had the last word at Bristol, but not before Gloucestershire had been reduced to 27-6 by Somerset. That was the lowest total at which Gloucestershire had lost their sixth wicket since they were 18-6 against Kent at Canterbury in 2017.
Their all-time record dates back to 1903 when they found themselves 6-6 against Yorkshire at Sheffield, before a moderate recovery to 36 all out - George Hirst and Wilfred Rhodes the chief destroyers on that occasion.
And, finally, more cheer for Nottinghamshire. After failing to win any of their 30 previous games, they have now won three in a row.
Watch the Roses clash between Lancashire and Yorkshire, from Emirates Old Trafford, live on Sky Sports Cricket from 10.50am on Thursday.
