Martin Andersson may have been the man who rescued Derbyshire with an unbeaten 129, but it was Kent’s Bangladesh pace duo Hasan Mahmud and Khaled Ahmed who left a strong impression on him.
Hasan and Khaled tore through Derbyshire’s top order on the opening day of their County Championship Division Two clash on Tuesday, reducing them to 64 for 4 before Andersson led the recovery.
Hasan struck with the first two balls of the innings and finished with four wickets, while Khaled claimed three on his County Championship debut. Despite facing the pair himself, Andersson believes their presence has made Kent’s bowling attack particularly strong.
“Without a doubt, Kent have a very strong bowling attack. They have two Test bowlers in Hasan and Khaled, in particular. They are coming back into form and, with it being September in England, there is always going to be something special about that,” Andersson said.
Hasan removed Harry Came with the first ball before trapping Matthew Montgomery lbw with the next. Khaled then dismissed Muhammad Naeem and Derbyshire captain Wayne Madsen to leave the hosts in early trouble.
Andersson then took control, carrying his bat for 129 as Derbyshire recovered to post 300. It was his fourth first-class century and proved crucial after the early collapse.
Hasan returned figures of 4 for 30 from 15.4 overs, while Khaled finished with 3 for 73 from 18 overs on debut.
The Bangladesh pair accounted for seven of Derbyshire’s wickets between them, with Hasan also dismissing Brooke Guest and Shoaib Bashir late in the innings, while Khaled bowled Jack Morley for his third.
Kent ended the day on 11 for 1, trailing by 289 runs, but Andersson’s century ensured Derbyshire remained firmly in the contest after Hasan and Khaled had threatened to run through their batting order.
