Photo: Nottinghamshire CCCRavichandran Ashwin starred for Nottinghamshire once again as he returned to the County Championships with a nine-wicket haul in the Division 1 match against Kent at Trent Bridge in Nottingham after bowling a mammoth fifty overs in the game.
With four fifers, Ashwin has now collected 32 wickets in just four county matches, including a 12-wicket haul in his last outing against Surrey and eight scalps in his second match against Somerset, and averages 20.87 apiece.
Kent batted first in the latest outing and scored 304 in the first innings with Ashwin, captain of Kings XI Punjab in the VIVO Indian Premier League, picking up 4/121 in his 32 overs. His scalps were successive as Kent went from 72/1 to 119/5 within 15 overs through the offie alone, before the tail wagged to put up a score of 304.
REPLAY | On the stroke of lunch Ravi Ashwin claims the wicket of Sam Billings.
— Nottinghamshire CCC (@TrentBridge) September 10, 2019
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That score, however, proved too much for the home side as they fell for only 124 handing the visitors a 180-run lead.
In the second innings, Kent piled on the runs and were at 186/3 before Ashwin struck. He went on to pick five of the remaining seven wickets, ending with figures of 5/89 in 18.5 overs and a match haul of 9/210 in 50.5 overs, as Kent ended their innings on 259.
Chasing a daunting 440 to the win, Nottinghamshire fell for 212 with Ashwin top-scoring for his side with 55. It was his second fifty in four matches, his 259 runs scored so far in the County Championships averaging a solid 37.00 and laying credence to his all-round skills.
