Kent Spitfires won by six wickets

IN-FORM Spitfires’ batsmen Darren Stevens and Justin Kemp helped Kent complete a totesport League double over fellow strugglers Yorkshire Phoenix in front of their biggest Canterbury crowd this summer.

The feel good factor of this season’s Ashes Test series, coupled with a blisteringly hot afternoon and the lure of a floodlit thriller in front of the Sky Sports cameras attracted a near 6,000 crowd and Kent responded with their best one-day display at home of the year.

Having dismissed the Phoenix 14 balls shy of their allocated 45 overs for a modest 164, Kent set about polishing the job off in style and with six wickets and 14 overs in hand.

There were steady contributions throughout the Spitfires top-order despite a hostile opening spell from the Tykes' impressive Kolpak signing, South African Deon Kruis.

Bowling with pace down the Nackington Road slope Kruis found late away swing to trouble the Kent top four and his figures of one for 38 might have been much better had his colleagues taken all the edges that followed.

Kent’s Martin van Jaarsveld had yet to get off the mark when he was downed at second slip by Anthony McGrath, the let off allowing the opening bat to go on and contribute 12 to an opening stand of 31 with fellow South African Andrew Hall.

It was Tim Bresnan who finally removed ban Jaarsveld, squaring the right-hander up with a leg-cutter that took the outside edge and flew to second slip.

Skipper Matt Walker edged a brute of a delivery from Kruis to the keeper to go for nine, bringing Stevens and Andrew Hall together for an attractive stand of 64 in 14 overs.

Hall played responsibly thereafter, mixing controlled aggression with a degree of caution, to reach 46 from 67 balls before he was given leg before to John Blain when the ball hit above the knee roll and appeared to be going over.

Stevens went on to notch his 18th one-day 50 from 49 balls and with nine fours but his stylish contribution ended when he made room to cut against Richard Dawson only to lose his leg stump.

Kemp batted within himself until the finishing line came in sight and then he duly doubled his score in what transpired to be the final over of the night by slamming 21 runs off an Ian Harvey over to win the game at the canter.

Earlier the Phoenix struggled to cope with Kent’s naggingly accurate attack and the seam movement the four pace bowlers extracted.

Simon Cook, Robbie Joseph and Hall each claimed two wickets apiece, Martin Saggers, like Kruis, might have had three wickets instead of one, then James Tredwell chipped in with two for 25 to polish the innings off.

Yorkshire’s wicketkeeper Simon Guy was left to give the innings a degree of decency with a top-score of 34 from 37 balls, but in honesty, the total was never enough to test the Spitfires.

Kent return to action on Thursday with another totesport League Division 2 clash in Canterbury against the Scottish Saltires. The game starts at noon.

Kent Spitfires won by six wiickets