Glamorgan v Kent

KENT kept their hopes of clinching the NatWest Pro40 League Division 2 play-off spot alive with an impressive eight-wicket win over basement side Glamorgan under floodlights in Cardiff.

Spitfires made relatively light work of posting their first win in four league starts thanks in the main to their in-from skipper Rob Key, who made the Dragons' attack look more like a club outfit in scoring a superb 107 not out.

Back to the form that won him a Test debut for England in 2002, Key moved to 98 with a six off Dean Cosker and reached his second league ton of the summer with an impudent reverse sweep for four from only his 88th ball.

In the next over Key straight drove Andrew Davies for his 15th four of the night, and left it to third-wicket partner Martin van Jaarsveld to clip the winning single and finish unbeaten with 42.

Set to chase 179 at the rate of 4.47 an over, Spitfires made a sensible if slightly cautious start through Key and Denly who posted 38 for the first wicket inside 10 overs before Denly (13) aimed a push drive at a Hugh Waters away swinger to be well caught by Mark Wallace stood up to the stumps.

Simon Cook was promoted to pinch hit at No3. but, in such bowler-friendly conditions the ploy failed and, after scoring nine from 15 balls, Cook chipped a catch to mid-on to make it 65 for two.

Key continued to improvise well, twice he unfurled his audacious flip shot over short fine leg to pick up boundaries and his driving was imperious throughout.

Despite two interruptions when a stray dog wandered onto the outfield, Key and then Martin van Jaarsveld held their concentration to milk the bowling without risk, including a brace of boundaries from one Dean Cosker over driven through extra cover.

Key took 17 off Adam Harrison's first over then, half-an-hour later, van Jaarsveld took nine off the seamers second over as the visitors upped the run rate.

The pair then joined up to plunder 16 off a seven-ball over from former England off-spinner Robert Croft as the visitors eased to their target in front of a paltry and very quiet Cardiff crowd with 61 balls to spare.

Kent's players got a taste of things to come at their own ground in Canterbury where big re-developments are planned, when they arrived at Sophia Gardens to find it looking more like a building site than a cricket ground.

Acres of concrete terracing aimed at transforming the Cardiff county ground into a Test venue have replaced the old, wooden-fronted zigzag pavilion here as work goes on at a pace to ready the ground in time for the Ashes series in 2009.

The locals believe the big new stands have already made a difference, in that the ball swings and seams around more here now than ever it did, so Key must have been satisfied by the Dragons' decision to bat first after winning the toss.

So it was the experienced pair of Martin Saggers and Simon Cook who got the ball to nip around extravagantly in the early overs in reducing Glamorgan to 41 for three after 8.5 overs.

Jimmy Maher (2) was first to go, edging low to second slip off Martin Saggers to give van Jaarsveld the first of three catches and Saggers the first of his excellent return of four for 25.

Richard Grant (7) soon followed when he pushed from the crease with no discernable movement of his feet to lose off stump to a perfectly pitched away-swing delivery.

In his next over, Saggers snared David Hemp to another slip catch for van Jaarsveld after the former Warwickshire left-hander nicked a leg-cutter.

Ben Wright (15) and top-scorer Gareth Rees posted the home 50 but soon after Wright drove loosely and wide against Neil Dexter to slice a simple chance to cover point where van Jaarsveld made the catch look simple.

Rees was just four short of a deserved half-century when, from the 75th ball of his stay, he flicked horribly to leg-side against James Tredwell to end a fifth-wicket stand of 45.

Kent Academy rookie Alex Blake, aged just 18 and playing only his second league game, then took his first wicket in senior cricket with a lifting delivery short of a length that Mark Wallace (35) miscued high to short fine-leg for Walker to pouch a well judged catch.

There were two more casualties in the late slog as Adam Harrison (7), making room to drive, only succeeded in edging a good length ball from Saggers to the keeper Geraint Jones.

Robert Croft added some urgency to the Glamorgan innings when he clattered three sixes off Tredwell's last over of the night to all but double the bowler's runs' against column, but Saggers was still proving hard to get away and he wrapped up proceedings by uprooting Cosker's off stump as the right-hander advanced to drive in the final over.

Kent return to action on Sunday, when they take on Yorkshire at St Lawrence in their final league game of the campaign from 12.45pm.