Kent's Zak Crawley scores 108 not out in T20 Blast win at Ageas Bowl - a month after his Test best 267 for England at the same ground
Published: 17:02, 14 September 2020
Updated: 08:28, 15 September 2020
Zak Crawley continued his golden summer with another hundred at the Ageas Bowl on Monday.
Crawley hit 108 not out to guide Kent Spitfires to an emphatic win over Hampshire, less than a month after he scored a magnificent 267 for England against Pakistan at the same ground.
The 22-year-old Bromley-born batsman also made 105 against Hampshire at Canterbury last week in the Bob Willis Trophy.
Crawley hit 14 fours and two sixes as Kent bounced back from Saturday's defeat to Sussex by chasing down Hampshire's 182-6 with nearly three overs and eight wickets to spare.
“That was immensely enjoyable," said Crawley. "I have quite fond memories here, they always produce favourable wickets and today was no different.
“I felt in good nick. It wasn’t premeditated at all, I just tried to play everything on its merits. I tried to hit square as it was a little slow. So I thought if I could beat the point and square then I would have more success. That was my only thought.
“It was a big goal of mine to score a T20 hundred so I am very thankful I have been able to do it. It is pretty hard to do. You need to be batting in the top three and have a big day out.
“Joe Denly batted brilliantly to take the pressure off me. He is usually the guy hitting it over the ropes but he was getting singles to get me on strike, which I really appreciated.
"It was a big game but thankfully we won it and can take the momentum forward to get into the top two.”
Kent lost Daniel Bell-Drummond for 12 but Crawley reached his half-century in 26 balls and hit boundaries to all quarters of the ground with growing maturity and authority. He was particularly impressive sweeping the spin of Mason Crane and cover driving the pace of Pakistan paceman Shaheen Shah Afridi.
His hundred arrived in 48 balls and he finished unbeaten on 108 from 54 balls, having shared a stand of 121 with England's Joe Denly (38).
Heino Kuhn's cameo 19 not out completed a comfortable win for Kent.
Hampshire had produced their best batting display in this season's competition earlier, boosted by the return of James Vince who hit 48 from 46 balls and Sam Northeast's 37 against his former county.
James Fuller hit four sixes in his 50 not out from 23 balls as Hampshire added over 50 runs in the last four overs.
Denly (1-30) and Imran Qayyum (1-31) were the most economical of the Kent bowlers.
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Matthew Panting