Stevens guides Spitfires home

Date: Monday 30 August 2010

Kent Spitfires recorded a comfortable six-wicket win as they kept their Clydesdale Bank 40 qualification hopes alive at a sunny Grace Road on Bank Holiday Monday.

A 79-run partnership for the sixth wicket between Matthew Boyce (41) and Tom New (47*) ensured Leicestershire Foxes got up to 182 but Joe Denly and Robert Key shared an opening stand of 86 as Kent broke the back of the chase.

The Foxes hit back impressively with three quickfire wickets as James Benning (2-32) bowled Denly (40) and Martin van Jaarsveld in quick succession and Matthew Hoggard trapped Key (45) leg before but former Fox Darren Stevens (42*) and Alex Blake (41*) shared an unbroken stand of 73 to guide the visitors home.

It was a strange game in many respects as nobody made a half-century and there was not a catch among the dismissals but the statistics did not matter to Kent, who recorded the two points they required to keep the pressure on Group C leaders Warwickshire Bears.

In the Foxes innings, openers Benning and Jacques du Toit had the rate between six and eight early on in making 26 apiece but when the latter was run out, the Foxes slipped from 71-1 to 81-5 before Boyce and New intervened.

All of the Kent bowlers chipped in with Matthew Coles (3-27) the leading wicket-taker and Simon Cook (2-23) and Malinga Bandara (2-31) also excelling after Key won the toss and invited an unchanged Leicestershire side to bat first.

Benning opened his boundary account with a back foot drive through extra and du Toit glanced a boundary off his pads to get off and running. Coles had a good battle with Benning in the next over but after sending down four dots, the batsman drove past mid off and hit over backward point for further boundaries.

The opener was not backwards in coming forward and hit his fourth, fifth and sixth fours off Stevens in the next through the region between point and extra. It was an aggressive start from Benning and du Toit also showed intent by swivelling to pull Coles off the back foot.

Benning was looking in fine touch but was deceived by an intelligent piece of bowling from Coles. The bowler took all the pace off the ball as he sent it down out of the back of his hand and the ball clipped the top of the stumps to end his breezy stay.

Josh Cobb guided a four down to third man from the first ball faced and when du Toit flicked another four away with fine leg up, the Foxes had fifty on the board within eight overs.

The score was 61-1 after ten overs and du Toit hit Stevens off the back foot as he kept things ticking over. With 69 on the board at the end of the bowling powerplay, Key immediately turned to his key man as leg spinner Bandara came on.

Things immediately changed as four wickets fell in quick succession. du Toit was the first to go as he wanted two, Cobb didn't and the striker could not get back after setting off. Bandara whipped off the bails after James Tredwell threw in and it was a needless loss at that stage with the rate at five-and-a-half an over.

James Taylor then fell leg before to Cook from his first delivery faced and when Cobb was snared lbw by Bandara in the next, the complexion of the game had changed.

Championship opening pair Greg Smith and Matthew Boyce were paired together at the wicket but although Smith stroked through point for a welcome boundary, he too fell by dragging Cook on to his stumps.

It meant that four wickets had fallen in the space of ten runs and the innings was now in some bother and required a period of consolidation. Boyce did the job impressiviely - as he did yesterday alongside Taylor at Trent Bridge - and New was a willing ally.

The wicket keeper glanced a four off his pads and four byes was also welcome as ten came from Bandara's fourth over. A wide then bought up the hundred and Cook bowled out with to finish with an excellent analysis.

Boyce cut Bandara away for four and Tredwell then sent down a tidy opening over in conceding just a single. There was a double off-spinning change as van Jaarsveld replaced Bandara at the Pavilion End and he too did a good job in going for just two from his opener.

Boyce broke the boundary shackles with the last ball of Tredwell's second over and New also found the ropes with the final delivery of van Jaarsveld's second. Those last ball fours are always a psychological blow to the bowler and the Foxes were just rebuilding nicely.

The stand between the left handers passed fifty in the 26th over and when Dewald Nel entered the equation, Boyce found the fence down to third man in the 29th over. He again struck for four in the next courtesy of a fumble on the boundary at long off and Boyce followed that up by glancing delicately off his pads for his fifth boundary.

Unfortunately, the enterprising stand ended shortly afterwards upon Bandara's return as the Sri Lankan leggie tweaked a wrong 'un past Boyce's outside edge and Geraint Jones had the bails off in a flash.

That wicket triggered an untimely second collapse of the innings. Jigar Naik also fell stumped to his off-spinning colleague Tredwell and Coles strick twice upon his return. Hoggard was bowled from the first ball of the batting powerplay and when Harry Gurney fell in similar fashion four balls later, the Foxes had slipped to 171-9.

New kept the charge going with a fine stroke over mid on but he was left stranded on 47 when last man Wyatt was bowled by Nel to wrap up the innings.

Kent could reflect upon a job well done and set about the chase with gusto. Denly found the boundary with a think inside edge first up and after driving nicely through the covers for three, he glance Wyatt's first ball down to fine leg for a second four.

Key scored his first boundary with a delicate sweep and followed it up with a similar stroke that also raced away. Denly also pushed nicely through extra as the openers demonstrated their intent.

Denly hit the game's first maximum from the last ball of the seventh over as he hit over long on and when Key lofted over that region too, the fifty was up inside eight overs.

Hoggard introduced Naik in the ninth over as he held the powerplay back and then bought himself on for the tenth. Key lofted Naik for a straight four and by the end of the tenth over, the Spitfires had progressed to 62 without loss.

Key reverse swept for four and flicked a four off his pads as he put his foot down. The skipper had now overtaken his partner, despite Denly setting off like he had a train to catch.

Denly addressed the balance with a lovely stroke through the covers but lost his middle stump when attempting to drive Benning. van Jaarsveld fell in identical fashion two balls later and when Key was trapped lbw by Hoggard in the next over, three wickets had fallen in the space of six runs and the Foxes were back in it.

Ultimately, though, Stevens could not be dislodged and former England man Jones edged his old international colleague Hoggard for four as the pair set about steadying the ship. The hundred came up in the 17th over so despite the treble loss, the Spitfires were well above the rate.

Stevens drove for four but the return of Naik bought about a wicket. The spinner bowled five dots and completed a fine set by bowling Jones with a beauty that spun back and took out a stump.

The Foxes thought they had a fifth wicket when Benning got a fingertip to a Stevens drive and the ball clattered into the stumps at Blake's end. However, umpire Steve Garratt was scrambling to get out of the way of the ball and was understandably unable to get side on in time to make a judgment.

Stevens hit two boundaries and Blake also found the fence with a stroke through extra as the duo built their matchwinning partnership. Blake then struck a six to keep Kent ahead of the eight ball and when Stevens stroked through extra, the 150 was up.

Blake reverse swept and pulled for four as the fifty stand came up and the left-hander repeated the feat as he moved into the thirties. Two off-side strokes from Blake bought further fours and when Stevens glanced the second ball of the 34rd over to the long leg boundary, the job was done.

Leicestershire Foxes' last game in the competition is against Hampshire Royals on Saturday afternoon. The game will start an hour earlier at 12.45pm given we will be into September by then.