Chris Dent hit an unbeaten 112 as Gloucestershire cruised to an eight-wicket win over Kent Spitfires in the Royal London Cup at Beckenham, with 74 balls to spare.
Graeme van Buuren added an aggressive 51 not out as Gloucestershire closed on 219 for two, leaving the visitors with an anxious wait to see if Lancashire would deny them a place in the quarter-finals by beating Essex at Old Trafford.
Ollie Robinson made his highest List A score of 75 but Kent failed to build on a solid opening partnership and were restricted to 218 for nine. Van Buuren took three for 34, with James Bracey taking five catches.
Gloucestershire began the day in sixth place in the table, but knowing they would qualify on points-per-game in third if they won and Lancashire lost to Essex.
The visitors won the toss and asked Kent to bat under unexpectedly cloudy skies.
Robinson was dropped on 12 and 21 and Kent advanced to 61 without loss, but the hosts toiled after Tawanda Muyeye pulled Jared Warner to Tom Smith at midwicket for 30.
Van Buuren then bowled Jack Leaning for 16 and had a disgruntled George Munsey caught behind off the next ball. Harry Finch bottom-edged the hat-trick ball for a single but fell in the next over for one, becoming Ollie Price’s maiden victim at county level when he was caught behind.
Robinson then edged Van Buuren behind and Bracey claimed his fourth catch of the innings when Josh Shaw found Grant Stewart’s inside edge and was out for six.
Darren Stevens gave Kent some hope with 40, but when he was caught by Bracey off Matt Taylor Kent were down to the bowlers, with six overs remaining. Harry Podmore made 19 but when he tried to accelerate he holed out to Taylor and Smith took a steepling catch.
Warner bowled Nathan Gilchrist for five and it was left to James Logan and Matt Quinn, unbeaten on 17 and three respectively, to nudge the total towards something defendable.
Just how defendable it was became clear as Gloucestershire marched to 72 without loss before Price was lbw to Leaning for 24 in the 12th over. Logan trapped Bracey lbw, attempting to reverse sweep for 23 and Muyeye was unlucky not to take his first Kent wicket when Dent was dropped on 70, but the Spitfires were doomed by failure to make any further inroads.
A Van Buuren six over midwicket sent a number of supporters to the exit and Dent reached his century with an edge through the vacant slip area for a single off Quinn, before cutting Stewart to the boundary for the winning runs.
Gloucestershire’s Chris Dent said: “We came here to get a win and hope results go our way and we’ve done the first part. (Graeme van Burren’s) been fantastic for us and Smudger’s (Tom Smith) been building a lot of pressure. They’ve both been fantastic and they’re the reason why we’ve won games recently. The seamers bowled really well today as well, I don’t think it was really a wicket for them. There was some grip, some were sliding on, some were gripping so that was pretty tough and I think our spinners exploited it really well. Ollie Price is unlucky he’s only played this game as he could easily have played some of the others. He came in and showed his class, I think he’s definitely one for the future.
(On his century) “I just wanted to get some runs if I’m honest, obviously I haven’t got many recently and it’s been pretty tough, but I’m just happy to contribute to winning that game.”
Kent’s Ollie Robinson said: “It’s been the same story along in this competition, we just haven’t really fired. It was a tricker pitch today and we didn’t quite find a way. They showed us how to bat and that was to get partnerships together and build off each other. It was tough to start with, with me and Tawanda and when Jack came in it got a little bit easier, but we lost wickets in clusters and if you’re doing that it’s always tough to catch up at the back end.
“It was slow but there’s a way to score and we didn’t work it out quick enough. It’s not ideal but we’ve learned a lot from this campaign and we’ll be back stronger next year. It’s been a strange one, I’ve felt good all the time without really getting anything to show for it. It was nice to get 70 but I should have done what Dent with, when everyone batted around him and he got a hundred.”