SPITFIRES lost their first match of the season after suffering a nail-biting three-wicket reverse at the hands of newly promoted Lancashire.

After last week's heroics against Gloucestershire, Kent almost pulled victory from the jaws of defeat for a second game running thanks to the tight bowling of spinners Rob Ferley and James Tredwell.

The pair took two wickets apiece to give Lightning the jitters, before Warren Hegg and Kyle Hogg saw the hosts home with three wickets and just four balls to spare.

Aping the tactic used to great effect by Glamorgan's Dean Cosker and Robert

Croft, Kent called on James Tredwell and Rob Ferley to take Lancashire to

the wire in the second edge of the seat finish in a week.

In the early stages, star-studded Lancashire looked set to coast to victory

as they posted an opening stand worth 93 in reply to Kent's modest 203 all

out as Spitfires refuse to lie down.

As it was, the hosts needed four runs off the last over from Mohammad Sami and got home with when Warren Hegge edged to third man for the winning boundary.

Earlier, home openers Mal Loye and Iain Sutcliffe had 50 up on the board

within 12 overs forcing Kent skipper David Fulton to use four bowlers inside

the opening 15 overs, two of whom even changed ends in an abortive bid for

a breakthrough.

Left-hander Loye timed the ball beautifully to take driven boundaries off

Martin Saggers and Andrew Symonds.

The former Northamptonshire batsman also slog swept Symonds into the famous

red brick pavilion at the Test ground for six to move on to 48 from 57 balls.

Symonds has his revenge in the 20th over, however, taking two wickets in

as many balls including the prized scalp of fellow Australian Stuart Law.

Loye, in trying to repeat the six hit, holed out to Ed Smith at mid-wicket

then Law nibbled at a leg-cutter next ball to suffer his first golden duck

for the Red Rose County and his third duck in succession against Kent.

Lancashire re-grouped through the powerfully built Sutcliffe and former

Kent and West Indies hero Carl Hooper.

Sutcliffe looked untroubled in reaching 44, while Hooper (18) also looked

set after initially struggling against the extreme pace of Mohammad Sami.

But it was then that Kent's spin twins, both aged 22, came to the fore.

Ferley trapped Hooper leg before working across the line and had Mark Chilton

(9)well caught by Smith running in from mid-wicket.

Meanwhile, at the Stretford End, Tredwell picked up the scalps of Sutcliffe,

bowled round his legs, and Glen Chapple to a catch at mid-off in a spell

of two for 23.

Kent now scented a fourth comeback win of the summer, but with Tredwell

bowled out, Fulton had lost his most potent weapon.

Kent's decent start with the bat had turned into something of a mid-innings

disaster as they slid to 203 all out in decent batting conditions.

After reaching 38 without loss, Spitfires lost their next five wickets in

the space of 10 overs as the home bowlers made the most of a bouncy Manchester

pitch.

The wicket had little to do with the loss of the first wicket though, as

opening batsman Rob Key, after scoring a fluent 29, chanced a second run

against the arm of Kyle Hogg at long-leg only to lose the race.

Andrew Symonds hammered two quick boundaries to move to nine but, in trying

to repeat a back-foot force, he edged a lifting ball off Hogg into the gloves

of Warren Hegg.

Three overs later, in-form Matt Walker (11) again failed to get on top of

the bouncing ball from Sajid Mahmood and nicked a comfortable catch to his

former Kent team-mate Hooper to make it 78 for three.

Though Smith moved on to 36 from 55 balls, his scratchy stay came to an

end in the 19th over when, in attempting to pull a short one from Mahmood,

he dragged on to dislodge the leg bail.

The collapse continued when Chapple, after a tight opening burst, returned

at the Stretford End to have Fulton (4) caught off the gloves leg-side to

one that would probably have been called a wide.

After surviving a huge shout for caught behind moments after coming to the

crease, Geraint Jones hung around for another 25 minutes without getting

off the mark.

His misery came to an end when Mahmood returned for his second spell to

uproot Jones' leg stump with a yorker.

With nothing to lose, Ferley and Tredwell worked the ball around in a spirited seventh wicket stand that added 22, but Lancashire remained in overall command when Tredwell went for 23.

Playing around a full-length ball from Hogg, Tredwell went leg before to

make it 128 for seven.

Last week's top-scorer Ferley again helped save Kentish face as he and Saggers

(11) posted 54 in 12 overs for the best stand of the game.

Ferley reached a brisk 42, that included the first six of the innings helped

over the mid-wicket ropes from a Hooper long-hop, before Chapple plucked

out Ferley's off stump as the right-hander made room to drive.

Saggers went to the next ball, trapped leg before by Hooper's arm ball,

but there was still time for a few fireworks from Alamgir Sheriyar (14),

who hit successive sixes off Hooper before running himself out with six

balls of the innings remaining.

Mahmood, with three for 39, was the pick of the Lancashire attack after

frugal opening bursts from Chapple and Cork.