Kent Spitfires kicked off their 2016 NatWest T20 Blast campaign in stunning fashion with an emphatic eight-wicket win against Somerset.

 

Chasing an imposing 198 to win on a decent batting deck, Kent’s top order fired in spectacular style. The Spitfires knocked off the runs with more than two-and-a-half overs to spare; Daniel Bell-Drummond hitting his highest T20 score of 83 not out, made from just 47 balls.

Joe Denly made a superb 75 in the Spitfires chase too, after Somerset’s 197/7 had given the home side plenty to do after losing the toss. Captain Jim Allenby hit 91 for the visitors, who reached 143/1 in the 14th over before some good bowling from Kent restricted them from what could have been an even bigger total.

Somerset won the toss and chose to bat on a warm, if overcast, evening in Canterbury. It was clear early on that the pitch was an absolute belter, offering excellent carry through to the wicket-keeper, and allowing the batsmen to score quickly with proper cricket shots.

Overseas batsman Tom Latham missed out for Kent with a niggle, leaving Adam Rouse to take his place behind the stumps, while Matt Coles returned from suspension and Fabian Cowdrey, James Tredwell and David Griffiths made their first appearances of the season.

Griffiths made the breakthrough for Kent early on, taking a wicket with the first ball of the second over when he had Johann Myburgh (5) caught low by Darren Stevens at mid-off.

That brought Peter Trego to the crease to join Allenby, and the pair quickly settled and before long were making the most of the impressive pitch, finding the boundary regularly. Both registered fifties and added 134 together in a little over 12 overs.

The pair looked like they might take their side to a huge total around the 250-mark, but three wickets from Fabian Cowdrey helped shift the momentum back in Kent’s favour.

He first had Trego caught at deep square leg to end the former Kent man’s 30-ball innings for 57, before Matt Coles had Michael Leask caught in the deep by Alex Blake for 10 in the next over.

Cowdrey picked up his second and third in the next one – first removing another ex-Kent man, Ryan Davies (5) and the Jamie Overton (1), both caught by Joe Denly on the mid-wicket boundary.

Somerset had slipped from 143/1 to 162/5, and continued to lose wickets as they pushed on towards 200. Roelof van der Merwe (9) was superbly yorked by Griffiths, who bowled excellently throughout, before Allenby was the last of their wickets to fall, bowled by Claydon in the penultimate over.

Reaching 197/7 from their 20 overs was a decent effort from Somerset, though Kent’s bowling performance in the back end of their innings helped Kent back into a more-than competitive position.

The best was yet to come for the Spitfires.

Both Bell-Drummond and Denly looked in supreme touch as soon as they reached the middle. They found the boundary regularly, both with big, T20-style shots and often with excellent cricket shots, too; once again showing how well the Canterbury wicket was playing.

The 50-partnership was brought up in just the fifth over, and by the eighth, Bell-Drummond had already moved to his half-century, reaching it from just 28 balls with eight boundaries. It was the 22-year-old’s sixth 50-plus score in as many matches now this year, and both he and Denly looked in world class form throughout.

Bell-Drummond brought up his side’s 100 with a stunning smash for six that went onto the top floor of the Frank Wooley stand, before Denly followed it with another into the same area later in the over.

Fresh from his unbeaten 206 in the County Championship earlier this week, Denly went to his half-century from 30 balls, before his partnership with Bell-Drummond reached record-breaking territory.

It passed the 119 that Bell-Drummond had made alongside Rob Key against Essex in 2014 to become Kent’s highest T20 opening partnership, and shortly afterwards became the highest partnership for Kent for any wicket in T20 cricket as it reached 150.

Denly fell for 75 when he was caught on the boundary off Tim Groenewald, though Sam Northeast came to the crease and helped his side keep the momentum up, making 27 off 14 as it became more and more obvious that the Spitfires’ chase was going to be a winning one, and a memorably good one at that.

Northeast was caught off van der Merwe shortly before the Spitfires completed the win, with it left to Darren Stevens to join Bell-Drummond to see their side home with 2.4 overs to spare.

The crowd of nearly 5,000 at Canterbury were treated to as good a run chase as you are likely to see in this year’s NatWest T20 Blast competition, from a side who reached the quarter-final stage last year and will be looking to go one step further to finals day this time around.

 

Kent v Somerset at Canterbury, NatWest t20 Blast, South Group: May 20 2016:

Kent Spitfires 200/2 (Bell-Drummond 83 not out, Denly 75) beat Somerset 197/7 (Allenby 91; Cowdrey 3-18) by eight wickets with 16 balls remaining.

 

Kent Spitfires: Bell-Drummond, Denly, Northeast*, Stevens, Blake, Cowdrey, Rouse†, Coles, Claydon, Tredwell, Griffiths

Somerset: Myburgh, Allenby*, Trego, Leask, Davies†, J Overton, van der Merwe, Hildreth, Arafat, Groenewald, Waller