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Kent Spitfires v Gloucestershire Gladiators
04/07/2010
Friends Provident t20 South Division
At Canterbury
By Richard Latham
Gloucestershire’s hopes of a Friends Provident t20 quarter-final nosedived again with a 12-run defeat by Kent at Canterbury.
The Gladiators were unable to chase down the Spitfires’ total of 165 after losing an early wicket and were eventually bowled out for 153 in 19.2 overs.
Batting first having won the toss, Kent put 32 on the board within five overs before captain Rob Key, on 11, edged an attempted clip over mid-wicket off David Payne and was caught at short fine-leg by James Franklin.
Joe Denly raced onto 44 from 31 balls, with 4 fours and a six, before he was brilliantly caught on the run by Hamish Marshall at long-on off Aaron Redmond’s leg-spin to make it 89-2.
Geraint Jones slog-swept Richard Dawson straight down the throat of Redmond at deep square-leg, then Alex Blake skied a cover drive off Payne straight into the hands of Will Porterfield at deep extra-cover. At 118-4 in the 13th over the game was in the balance.
Martin van Jaarsveld, who top-scored with 59 from 40 balls, including 6 fours and a six, did his best to boost the Spitfires total, but Gloucestershire’s bowlers kept chipping away and from 105-2 a final score of 165-9 was no more than par.
Payne finished with 3-25 and Jon Lewis 2-26, both from four-over stints, while there was a wicket apiece for Steve Kirby, Franklin, Redmond and Dawson.
Gloucestershire struggled with their reply from the sixth delivery when Porterfield turned a leg-stump delivery from Azhar Mahmood straight to Denly at deep square-leg.
The visitors reached 42 before Redmond drove at the first ball of the afternoon from left-arm seamer Ashley Shaw and gave a catch to mid-off, having made 13.
Marshall was dropped on six, but added only 11 more before swinging across a straight one from Simon Cook to be bowled. Then wrist-spinner Malinga Bandara took two wickets in three balls to tilt the game firmly Kent’s way.
Chris Taylor edged an attempted drive to the keeper then top-scorer Franklin was deceived in the flight and only succeeded in picking out James Hockley at long-on to go for 40 from 33 balls.
Chris Dent chanced his arm to be run out by Denly for six and Dawson miscued a sweep to deep-square to give Bandara final figures of 3-27. It was 110-6 in the 15th over and the Gladiators were in deep trouble.
Steve Snell (21) had two stumps knocked out after missing a leg-side delivery from Amjad Khan and in the penultimate over Lewis (26 off 15 balls) holed out to long-off after hitting 2 fours and 2 sixes.
With 14 needed off the last over, Khan cleaned up Kirby to secure victory for Kent with four balls to go.
