KENT paceman Amjad Khan claimed a hat-trick to deprive Sevenoaks Vine of a Premier Division victory at Lordswood on Saturday.

Chasing a target of 224, Vine seemed well set at 212 for seven before Khan produced his match winning effort.

Khan’s Kent teammate, spinner Alex Loudon, was the best of the Vine attack with three for 64 after the Medway side had been put in.

They slumped to 62 for three, but were rescued by Harminder Singh (91) and a hard hitting 38 not out by Kent bowler Ben Trott.

Vine, 197 for five at one time, were dismissed for 218 with skipper Matt Banes top scoring with 43 and useful contributions from Hugo Loudon (38), John Bowden (36) and Chris Walsh (28).

Vine 2nd proved far too good for Lordswood 2nd at The Vine, winning by 60 runs. Put into bat, The Vine totalled 198 for nine with Glen Goosen hitting 65 and opener Jonathan Lee 28.

Lordswood never looked likely to challenge this total after slumping to 57 for six and were finally dismissed for 138 in the 42nd over. Hugh Moxon, Tom Nissen, Chris Crang and Bruce Leeke each claimed two wickets.

Gore Court are finding life tough in the Premier Division and await their first win following a 136 run defeat against defending champions St Lawrence.

Things started well enough for Court as former West Indies fast bowler Franklyn Rose, making his long awaited home debut, removed both openers with just 15 on the board. At 71 for two from 24 overs Gore Court had the upper hand, but a superb third wicket partnership of 240 between Australian Trevor Irvine (149 not out) and Kent’s Matthew Dennington (116) swung things the other way.

St Lawrence’s other Kent player Simon Cusden weighed in with 31 from just 20 balls to ensure that the visitors finished with a big total of 326 for four from their 55 overs with 109 runs coming off the last 10 overs. The only wicket-takers for Gore Court were Kevin Jones and Rose, who each took two.

Despite the early loss of Steve Marsh for four, Gore Court tried to make a fight of it and were 120 for two after 30 overs with former Kent and England fast bowler Martin McCague making 87.

However, the return of Cusden with four for 25 sparked a dramatic collapse as the home side looked for quick runs. They lost their last eight wickets for only 70 runs and were bowled out in the 49th over for 190.

Tunbridge Wells 2nd maintained their lead at the top of Second X1 Division Two table with an impressive seven wicket win over The Mote 2nd at Maidstone.

The Mote won the toss and batted, laying down a solid opening partnership of 40 before the visitors began to make inroads into the innings.

Gareth Leese's second spell brought him three wickets in 23 balls, but The Mote effort ended with a smart run-out on 167, with seven balls remaining.

The chase started poorly, two wickets going down for just 18. Youngster Richard Cutts then joined Simon Routh in what proved to be a match-winning third partnership of 112.

Routh scored 51, including five fours, before falling with the total 130, but Cutts (78 not out) then saw them to victory, partnered now by Elliott Hughes (15 not out) as the last 38 runs were accrued. Cutts’ 78 not out was by some way his best score at this level.

A record opening stand of 213 between Neil Scott (127) and Graham Razey (108 not out) laid the foundations for Offham’s win over Macknade in Division Three.

Facing a target of 270, Macknade collapsed against Scott, who took five for five in a devastating eight over spell.