By Andrew Gidley

Kent coach Simon Willis hailed "our best six overs in the competition this year" as the reason why Spitfires are looking forward to their third successive Twenty20 finals day next month.

Kent booked their place for the August 15 showpiece at Edgbaston after a 56-run win over Durham on Monday and Willis, pictured, said: "We thought a score of around 150 was competitive, and then it was all about the new ball, and the first six overs were crucial, but the guys stepped up to the plate, did what was was required, and put us in a very strong position.

"We flew out the box and got to 55-0 off six overs, and thought we were going to get a good total here, but pace off the ball, the wicket became a bit tougher to play shots on and we learned from that."

Wayne Parnell sent back Durham openers Phil Mustard and Aussie Twenty20 specialist David Warner, both for nought in his first two overs, but Geraint Jones, Simon Cook and man-of-match James Tredwell with 3-18 all played their part.

Hear Simon Willis speaking after the match.

However all the talk surrounded Parnell, playing his first match in the competition after returning for a second spell with the county, and Willis says Kent wil do all they can to get him back for finals day.

He said: "We are going to put a lot of pressure on Cricket South Africa because we want the boy involved, and hopefully we can get him there.

"They want him to rest up before the Champions Trophy, but I know Wayne is very keen to play, and we hope they release him, but we have to wait and see."