A PAINFULLY slow club pitch in Salisbury coupled with some admirably accurate minor counties bowling ensured for a tight game as Kent edged out Wiltshire by nine runs in their Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy tie in Salisbury.

After losing the toss and having had a quick look at the South Wiltshire Cricket Club pitch, Kent realised they were in for a tough time in this clash between these two counties of the white horse.

Indeed, even after the loss of an hour to mopping-up Monday night’s thunderstorms, Kent asked for the pitch to be cut again after complaints that it had not been mown straight.

The request, albeit slightly petulant, made little or no difference as the visitors made a poor start to their 50 overs.

England batsman Rob Key was first to be caught out by the lack of pace from the surface, pulling way too early he succeeded in gloving a leg-side catch to the tidy Wiltshire keeper Neil Shardlow.

Key’s Test team-mate and England keeper Geraint Jones was next to go, edging an attempted drive to slip against gas meter fitter and eventual man-of-the-match Kevin Nash, who bagged a creditable four for 46.

Martin van Jaarsveld (20) and Matt Walker (29) did their best to come to terms with a surface alien to the first-class game, before both were undone by its lack of pace.

The South African played hopelessly early and across the line to go leg before, while Walker was through his pull shot before the ball arrived to sky a running catch to the keeper.

Skipper David Fulton fatally shuffled across his stumps to a shooter then Darren Stevens clipped a catch to the gully to leave the professionals seriously embarrassed at 72 for five.

It took the highest stand of the innings, 52 between Walker and fellow left-hander Michael Carberry, to help Kent to somewhere near a defendable total of 160 all out.

Carberry batted 69 balls for his top-score of 41 that included only two fours and a six, such was the command of ball over bat as Kent were dismissed with 19 balls of their innings still to come.

Simon Cook chipped in with a useful 12, but come the interval the visitors knew they had a game on their hands.

Wiltshire’s game plan was a softly, softly approach at first, hoping to reach three figures with plenty of wickets intact before launching an assault on a David and Goliath style victory.

Though they lost Western Australian left-hander Chris Rogers for three and then Chris Budd, caught at slip off Simon Cook’s next delivery, the policy appeared to have merit.

Home skipper, 20 stone financial advisor Russell Rowe, then teamed up with former Somerset staff member Mike Coles to add 52 for the third wicket in 17 overs.

Rob Ferley, Kent’s best fielder on the day, broke the stand with his left-arm spin by having Rowe stumped, then Cook, the pick of Kent attack with four for 22, had Coles well caught by Key at extra cover.

Going into the last 10 overs the hopes of the amateurs rested with two former Kent players James Golding and James Hibberd and their keeper Richard Bedbrook, but the fairytale win was not quite meant to be.

Having hit Matt Walker (two for 17) for a straight six Golding lost off stump to an in-swinger then, in his next over Walker had Hibberd caught in the deep by Carberry.

Bedbrook continued to chip away at the total and, come Cook’s last over of the day, had steered his side to within 11 runs of forcing the upset.

But Nash was unable to make it back into his ground after Bedbrook’s optimistic call for a second run and lost the race to the non-striker’s end to Ferley’s fast and flat throw.

Kent will now travel play the winner of the Durham versus Derbyshire tie in round two on Tuesday, May 17.