Kent Spitfires captain Rob Key was a happy man after hitting a century that helped his side to a 30 run win over Yorkshire Carnegie on Wednesday night.

The skipper recorded his first one day century in four years as the Spitfires secured their place at the top of Group C in the Clydesdale Bank 40 with a game to go.

Key was back to his majestic best as he worked the ball to all areas of the St Lawrence Ground, whilst executing some power hitting in an innings that lasted 109 balls, including 6 fours and two sixes.

Speaking exclusively to KSN after the game, Key told of his pleasure at hitting a century, but for the Spitfires skipper, it was all about getting a win for his side:

“The game looked in the balance at one stage, but the bowlers after a slow start came back brilliantly and got us home comfortably in the end which is really pleasing.”

“It was the same at Northants where you think you are behind and you could fall over and let the other team run away with it, but we keep coming back which is brilliant.”

“It was that long ago that I got my last century I couldn’t remember when it was. One Day cricket has been hard work for the last couple of years.”

“Last year it was my wrist and then in the years before, we have got to the point where we were no longer competing, so some of the younger guys got a go, so it’s been nice to be playing in a big game at Canterbury, scoring some runs for myself and helping the side out.”

“It’s nice to be in the mix as we haven’t been there for a whilhttp://www.kentsportsnews.com/wp-content/uploads/Rob-Key21.jpge.”

Younger members of the squad, like Sam Billings and Sam Northeast have been stealing all the headlines at the top of the order in limited overs cricket for the Kent Spitfires this season and Key told KSN how he was glad to be able to contribute to a win for the side:

“When you get older it’s pleasing to get runs, but it’s not like Sam Billings whose been strutting around like you wouldn’t believe for the past three weeks!”

At the halfway point, members of the Kent support were questioning whether 226 for 5 was going to be enough of a target to defend against a decent Yorkshire batting line up and at 117 for 2, the visitors looked to be coasting to victory, but Key was happy with how his side played the game:

“We aimed for 220 as you never know what it’s going to do under lights. Sometimes the wicket can get a lot better under lights, but you worry about the dew. I thought if we get to 220 we’d be right in the game and as it happened we were set to get a few more, but they bowled really well at the death.”

“I don’t think we were quite at our best with the new ball, like we were at Northants, but I’ve got absolutely no complaints from after the powerplays as we clawed back some teams that have got off to some flyers against us.”

“I tried to make it that I had Treddy (James Tredwell) as a threat all the way through, so I wanted his spell to last as long as possible, because as a batsman you might think if he has got a few overs left, I’ll just play them out and try and hit the other guys that aren’t spinning, but Nash played a brilliant hand and I was constantly able to drag out Treddy’s spell.”

“I always had him to turn to and the wicket of Gale was crucial. Treddy bowled beautifully and from a captain’s point of view, he was absolutely vital.”

Tredwell’s omission from the England One Day squad to face South Africa beginning on Friday and the T20 World Cup series came as a surprise to many Kent fans and Key shared that disappointment:

“I think the last three of four times that he hasn’t been selected for a One Day tournament, they’ve then called him up at the back end, so I’m not expecting for us to have him all the way through to the end of the season.”

“If it is anything like the other series, then he may get called up at some stage, but we will have to wait and see.”

The Spitfires now go into Bank Holiday Monday’s game against the Sussex Sharks knowing a win would secure them top spot in Group C and crucially a home semi-final and for Key that is a game he can’t wait to play:

“We had a big crowd in for this last game and hopefully we will get a big crowd again to cheer us on to go on to bigger and better things.”

“We are happy with where we are at the monent and hopefully we can turn over a pretty decent Sussex side, but we don’t want to get too ahead of ourselves just yet.”

Play starts at 1:45pm on Bank Holiday Monday with tickets available via www.kentcricket.co.uk