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Joe Denly was delighted to contribute with both bat and ball as Kent got their first win of the season in the Royal London One-Day Cup.
Denly took 4-56 with the ball and then hit a club record 150 not out to seal the four wicket win for the Spitfires against Glamorgan at The Spitfire Ground St Lawrence on Friday.
In Kent’s opening two games, defeats to Sussex and Middlesex, the acting captain failed to trouble the scorers.
Denly said: “It was nice to just get off the mark to be honest following those first two games. It was important for myself to contribute once I got going and we spoke about someone going big and batting through the innings and was pleased I could do that today.
“Without making excuses I should have made more runs. The first couple of games were disappointing on some pretty good wickets. I’ve felt good in the nets and it’s nice to get off the mark and going big.
“It was a disappointing first couple of games but always felt we weren’t a million miles away. Today it clicked and it’s important we take it forward.”
Denly took four wickets as Glamorgan were restricted to 274 batting first.
A second wicket partnership of 102 between Nick Selman (92) and Shaun Marsh (45), put Glamorgan in a strong position.
Wickets from Denly, Claydon (3-73) and Henry (2-50) helped keep the total down.
Denly said: “I thought we started really well. They got a little partnership going but I thought we stuck to it pretty well with the short boundary restricting them to 274, which I thought was about par, so it was a great effort from the bowlers.
“We were brilliant in the field, I thought that was world class today. It is something we pride ourselves on so there are a lot of positives to take.
“It’s always nice to contribute with the ball as well. We went in with five bowlers and it was important that everyone stood up and did a good job.”
The acting captain’s stand of 88 with Alex Blake (41) proved decisive in Kent’s run chase, with Blake smashing a ball into the top tier of the Frank Woolley Stand in his innings.
Kent chased down the runs with four wickets and 11 balls to spare.
Denly said: “This is probably up there as one of my best in terms of batting, bowling and being captain as well. I have a huge amount of pride with the way the team performed and I’m glad to be part of that.
“I always felt with the short boundary and that wicket that if we took it deep we would cause them trouble. We played that extra batter today and that obviously helped.”
Denly has been the side’s captain while Sam Billings is at the IPL with Chennai Super Kings, who play in the final on Sunday.
He added: “We still have Sam Billings to come back into our squad. Hopefully he will be back for the game on Tuesday.
“I’ve enjoyed the onfield stuff. I’ve found it a bit hard to switch off away from the ground so that’s been the biggest challenge with the captaincy.
“The lads have been great in supporting me and I’ve really enjoyed my time on the field.”