Kent Spitfires won by six wickets

A STUNNING 20-ball innings of 54 from South African Justin Kemp coupled with a measured unbeaten 75 from countryman Martin van Jaarsveld took Kent to an incredible six-wicket win over Sussex in sunny Tunbridge Wells.

The gentle giant from Queenstown cracked seven sixes in 11 balls faced, six of which were in ‘the v’ and one clear out of the ground over the marquees at mid-wicket in treating the Sussex spinners with disdain.

It was with his final six that Kemp raised his half-century, won the game and took Sussex’s unbeaten record for the season to boot – not surprisingly he received a standing ovation from a huge Nevill crowd as Spitfires made it three festival wins from as many starts.

Kent’s innings had started with few frills, however, as Neil Dexter, fit again after tonsillitis, and Darren Stevens added 34 before Dexter, in attempting to up the rate, skied a catch to the keeper.

Andrew Hall was promoted to bat at No.3 and he marched in to hammer 40 from 29 balls in a stand of 54 in eight overs before both committed the cardinal sin of getting out when well set.

Stevens clipped to square leg then, in the next over, Hall missed a slog-sweep to Mushtaq Ahmed and heaped the pressure on those to follow.

For the second day of this Festival Weekend it was skipper Rob Key and the county’s first Kolpak signing Martin van Jaarsveld who steered the side within touching distance of victory with a fourth wicket stand of 130 in 24 overs.

Both moved watchfully to their half-centuries, indeed Key’s took 74 minutes and included four fours, but once past the milestone both unfurled their full menu of strokes.

Key pulled three consecutive boundaries off a Robin Martin Jenkins over that cost 18 in total as Spitfires reduced the asking rate to 70 off the last 10 overs.

Key went with his score on 63 from 82 balls when his back-foot force of Luke Wright picked out Murray Goodwin at mid-off, but van Jaarsveld’s thirst for runs remained and Kemp’s proved simply unquenchable as his immense display won the game.

After the early loss of Matt Prior to a chipped back return catch to Hall, the Sussex innings started at such a frantic pace that a 300-plus total seemed inevitability, particularly if Richard Montgomerie was prepared to play anchor.

The former Northamptonshire opener did exactly that in scoring his first one-day century in over a year, but his team-mates never gave him the concerted support that his magnificent innings of 127 from 141 balls deserved.

Several threatened, including Murray Goodwin who scored 22 before miscuing a catch into the deep against James Tredwell, then Chris Nash, who came in for the injured Rana Naved, cracked a bright 38 with eight fours before he went out of his ground to be stumped by Niall O’Brien.

So with no one else reaching 50, it was left to Montgomerie to shoulder the burden of responsibility.

He deserved to be unbeaten come the end but, in attempting a second run from the final ball of the innings only to be run out by Dexter’s accurate throw from long-off.

Montgomerie had helped the Sharks to within 16 of 300 but the target proved well within Kent and Kemp’s compass.