Kent Spitfires v Essex Eagles

Spitfires landed the rich pickings of a second Twenty20 Cup final appearance and with it a potential Champions League spot with a 14-run semi-final win over Essex Eagles.

In front of a packed Rose Bowl crowd, it was Kent’s mid-innings bowlers James Tredwell and Simon Cook who created the pressure under which Essex finally cracked at the death against Yasir Arafat and Azhar Mahmood.

Eagles made a decent first at the start of their pursuit as openers Ravinda Bopara and Mark Pettini moved to 50 after six overs and the end of the fielding restrictions.

The pressure was starting to mount for Essex when off-spinner Tredwell came on for the eighth over from the West End to bowl in tandem with Cook, but Bopara continued to improvise well and 18 came from the next two overs.

But Tredwell outfoxed Bopara (29) by holding one back to find a leading edge that sailed gently back to the bowler to make it 78-1.

Eight runs later Essex dangerman Graham Napier (3) attempted to force over long-off, but mistimed against a Cook slower ball and Rob Key took a stunning catch over his shoulder running back towards long-off.

Eagles posted their 100 in the 13th over, the first of the innings from Darren Stevens, who conceded two boundaries to veteran Grant Flower.

Pettini moved to an excellent 50 with four fours, but as Tredwell completed his spell (1-26) the asking rate had crept above 10 for the first time in the innings.

Flower (17) middled another cracking drive against Ryan McLaren and set off wanting a single, but Martin van Jaarsveld stopped athletically, one-handed to his right at cover point and threw to Geraint Jones at the striker’s end to complete the run out by a yard.

Pettini (54) was then involved in a second run out when, after a drive to extra cover by James Foster, he set off for a run only to be sent back and lose the race against Key’s throw from wide mid-on.

With 31 needed from 18 balls, Foster (9) drove hard at Arafat but picked out van Jaarsveld at cover to make it 143-5.

Some 27 were needed from 12 balls as Mahmood returned at the Pavilion End to fool Ryan ten Doeschate (17) with a slower ball that pegged back the right-hander’s off stump to give Mahmood figures of 1-32.

Eagles needed 20 from Arafat’s last over but, in attempting two to McLaren at long-off, James Middlebrook (7) became the third run out victim of the innings.

Tim Phillips swung lustily for seven but it was all in vain and, when he chipped a catch to van Jaarsveld, Kent were assured of their place in the final for the second season running with Yasir finishing with 2-22.

Essex were set an asking rate of 8.7 an over when Kent, after electing to bat first after winning the toss, coasted past the ground’s first innings average score of 154.

Throughout the qualifying rounds Spitfires had invariably been given a flying start by openers Key and Joe Denly, and today proved no exception as the pair made good use of a bone-hard, bouncy pitch and ideal, warm batting conditions.

Former Kent paceman David Masters got off to a nervy opening at the Pavilion End, conceding three wides in his first over that also leaked a couple of boundaries to Denly through backward point and a steer over the slips.

Key opened his boundary account with a sumptuous cover drive against Napier and then unfurled his trademark flip over short fine leg for another four off Masters.

Denly cracked the only six of the innings, his 16th of this summer’s competition, with a front-foot force over backward point. He clipped another four to third man off Masters to post Kent’s 50 after five overs – it was their fourth cup half-century stand in 2008.

Wrist-spinner Danish Kaneria replaced Napier at the West End and, after conceding fours from his first two balls, bowled Key (20 from 12 balls) around his legs as the Kent skipper attempted a reverse sweep.

Arafat was promoted to bat at No3 and clipped his opening boundary through backward point off Maurice Chambers, who replaced Masters at the Pavilion End.

Chambers, making only his 12th T20 appearance, showed understandable nerves to leak two boundaries in his first over then, in the eighth over, Kaneria got one to turn as Arafat (10) advanced to drive only to hole out off a leading edge to Chambers at long off.

In the ninth over, the first by off-spinner James Middlebrook, Denly perished when, in running down the pitch to drive, the ball turned past his inside edge and pads and down the leg-side where Foster pulled off a stumping from a leg-side wide to send Denly packing for 36 from 27 balls with five fours and a six.

Having been successful with spin, Essex skipper Pettini introduced his third slow bowler Tim Phillips, a left-arm spinner making his season’s cup debut, but in some ways the ploy eased the pressure on Kent’s batsmen who were clearly struggling against Kaneria.

Stevens straight drove Phillips to the ropes to hoist the Spitfires 100 after 12.3 overs, after which Essex bought on Bopara, their seventh bowler of the innings.

He bagged the wicket of van Jaarsveld (16) with his sixth ball when the Kent right-hander miscued to wide mid-on.

At 110-4 Stevens joined forces with Mahmood who enjoyed a let-off when Napier, out at long-on, raced in from the ropes allowing Mahmood’s lofted drive to fly over his head for four.

The pair added 24 before Stevens (29 from 24 balls) dragged his back foot against Bopara to give the excellent Foster his second stumping off a leg-side wide.

Foster accepted, an otherwise sloppy Essex fielding display continued when Mahmood was given another life on 10 after Chambers dropped a skier at long-on. The Pakistan all-rounder took immediate advantage by clattering the next ball for four.

A third chance went Mahmood’s way on 20 when Pettini downed a tough, low chance at extra cover as Kaneria finished his four overs with figures of 2-28.

Mahmood’s luck finally ran out on 24 from 19 balls when he clipped a catch straight down the throat of Grant Flower at long-on against Bopara then, in the final over, Justin Kemp (11) missed a drive against Napier to lose his off stump.

Ryan McLaren hit two boundaries from the last four balls of the innings to finish in style but, with only eight boundaries from the last eight overs, Kent were left to wonder if they had scored enough as Bopara, the pick of the Eagles’ attack, closed with 3-36.

Spitfires: Key, Denly, van Jaarsveld, Kemp, Stevens, Mahmood, Jones, Arafat, McLaren, Tredwell, Cook.

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