Kent Spitfires made it two wins from two in the NatWest T20 Blast with a 21-run win over Gloucestershire at Canterbury, as Adam Riley impressed with the ball.

Spinner Riley took career best T20 figures of 4-22 as the hosts restricted Gloucestershire to 115-9; this after Kent had won the toss and posted a total of 136-7 on a slow wicket, with Alex Blake top-scoring with his highest T20 score of 41.

Doug Bollinger also impressed with the ball, taking 2-15 from his four overs, which David Griffiths showed good pace and took 1-12 in two.

Going into the game with an unchanged side after their excellent 42-run win at Taunton against Somerset last week, Daniel Bell-Drummond and Rob Key once again opened for Kent.

They put on 21 together before Bell-Drummond (11) was dismissed by Graeme McCarter (3-26), followed a few overs later by Key (24), who was caught in the deep by Benny Howell off the bowling of Tom Smith.

The Spitfires had moved onto 61-2 when Sam Northeast, coming in at three, was caught on the midwicket boundary off the bowling of McCarter, before Sam Billings came and went without scoring as he clipped the ball straight back to Howell off his own bowling.

Darren Stevens, seen by most as the dangerman in the Kent batting line-up, had made 21 when he was bowled by Howell in the 12^th over. The score had moved onto 74-5 by this stage, with the visitors bowling well and taking pace off the ball on something of a slow and sticky wicket.

Alex Blake and Adam Ball then came together and put on what would be a vital partnership in the course of the match, adding 38 together at slightly better than a-run-a-ball. It would take an excellent catch by Gloucestershire captain Michael Klinger to remove Ball (10), Howell again the bowler as he took a career-best 3-21 from his four overs.

Blake continued to look to add further runs late one, passing his highest T20 score in the process, before being stumped off the final ball of the innings for a 30-ball 41, which featured six boundaries, including one brilliantly cut six off a James Fuller full-toss.

This left Kent having posted a total of 136-7 from their 20 overs – not the biggest score in the world, but one which, if they bowled and fielded well enough, was certainly defendable, as they would go to show.

Kent knew that they would have to bowl well from the off, and they did just so, with Doug Bollinger and Mitch Claydon both keeping it very tight early on.

Claydon made the breakthrough in the fourth over; Sam Billings taking a good catch down the legside to see off Chris Dent for 6.

After their six powerplay overs, Gloucestershire had only managed to move to 28-1, as Kent continued to keep in tight and build the pressure on the batsmen.

That pressure eventually paid off in the tenth over – Adam Riley’s first – when the Sidcup-born off-spinner trapped Gloucestershire skipper Klinger lbw for 25, as the Australian attempted to reverse sweep.

At the halfway stage in their innings, the visitors had reached 49-2, requiring a further 88 runs from the 60 balls remaining.

Riley continued to impress, taking a wicket in each of his four overs, bowling Alex Gidman for 17 in his second, and then having Ian Cockbain (3) caught by a steady Northeast on the long-off boundary in his third.

Darren Stevens then got in on the act, bowling Benny Howell for a golden duck, before Riley picked up his fourth in his final over, bowling the dangerous New Zealander Hamish Marshall for 26, as the former-international looked to dance down the pitch and take him on.

Gloucestershire were 82-6 in the 16^th over by the time Marshall fell; Riley’s 4-22 replacing 2-15 as his best T20 figures.

The impressive pair of Doug Bollinger and David Griffiths were brought back into the attack in the closing stages with the visitors already needing a minor miracle to avoid defeat, and would pick up three wickets in the final three overs.

Bollinger had Cameron Herring (4) caught by Rob Key after skying one, Griffiths bowled Fuller for 9, and Bollinger had McCarter (5) well caught by Stevens in the final over, with the visitors closing on 111-9, and the Spitfires celebrating a 21-run victory.

Having beaten Somerset in such swashbuckling style last week as they produced fireworks with the bat, Kent showed that they were able to win a closely-fought, low-scoring encounter too, which they will hope stands them in good stead for the rest of their T20 campaign.

Kent have a week off from an LV= County Championship game this week, before heading to Southampton to take on Hampshire at the Ageas Bowl on Thursday, and returning to Canterbury to face Middlesex a day later.

 

Kent Spitfires vs. Gloucestershire, NatWest T20 Blast, South Division, The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence, Canterbury, 30 May 2014

Kent Spitfires 136-7 (Blake 41, Howell 3-21, McCarter 3-26) beat Gloucestershire 115-9 (Marshall 26, Riley 4-22, Bollinger 2-15) by 21 runs

 

Kent Spitfires: Bell-Drummond, Key*, Northeast, Stevens, Billings†, Blake, Ball, Claydon, Riley, Griffiths, Bollinger

Gloucestershire: Klinger*, Dent, A Gidman, Marshall, Cockbain, Howell, Herring†, Fuller, Smith, McCarter, Norwell

Kent won the toss and elected to bat

 

Full scorecard available here

 

Pictures supplied by www.sarahansellphotography.com