Fast bowler Matt Coles felt Kent Spitfires should have been able to beat Essex in the Royal London One Day Cup at Chelmsford on Wednesday.

The Spitfires posted a defendable 285/8 in their 50 overs having been put into bat by the home side.

Coles’ contribution with the bat took the side from a perilous position of 135/7 to 275/8, smashing a 52 ball 91, with 10 fours and 5 sixes.

Along with James Tredwell (47 off 42 balls), Coles helped the Spitfires to a more than respectable total, but the home side chased it down with five balls to spare.

Looking back at a game the Kent Spitfires should have won, Coles felt his side made mistakes: “I think we should have been able to defend that total. We knew it was going to be tight.”

“Cowdrey bowled very well for us, and so did Tredwell, and I thought we started very well.”

“But we ended up giving away 23 extras and that’s not brilliant.”

Meanwhile, Essex captain Ravi Bopara was delighted his side showed the character to come back and secure another victory in the Royal London One Day Cup:

“It means we’re top of the table. We’ve been very good in this competition so far – four out of four, well one was a tie obviously, so we’re undefeated.”

“I’d got out to run-outs a couple of times, so that’s two innings where I might have got a lot of runs, who knows? Then you put yourself under pressure if you’re not scoring, so it’s nice to get a few today.”

“It was good as well ahead of the T20 tomorrow where we’ve got to be positive and hit the ball hard.”

“We are a chasing side, or we consider ourselves as a chasing side, our batting is a lot stronger than our bowling. When you’re chasing you’re always going to be under pressure, you’re looking at the scoreboard and it jumps up from seven to nine and a half an over, but the idea is never to panic.”

“As long as you keep your wickets in hand you’ve always got a very, very good chance.”

The Kent Spitfires now head to Wales for their Natwest T20 Blast game against Glamorgan in Cardiff on Friday night before the two teams begin their County Championship game on Sunday.

Picture supplied by Steve Bailey Photography.