Kent won by five wickets

SPITFIRES put an end to their three-match totesport League losing streak with a well-paced five-wicket wicket win over Yorkshire Phoenix at Headingley.

Despite a troublesome pitch at the Leeds Test venue, Kent successfully chased Yorkshire’s 45 over total of 216 to secure only their fourth win of a disappointing campaign with four balls to spare.

New one-day skipper Matt Walker was the Kent hero hitting an unbeaten 56 in helping steer his side home with an unbroken sixth wicket stand with James Tredwell (29) worth 51 in seven overs.

With three needed off the final over of the game from Tim Bresnan, Tredwell swished and missed at a bouncer but pulled the next delivery to the mid-wicket ropes to seal victory.

The visitors made three changes to the side that lost under lights to Warwickshire in mid-week.

England coach Duncan Fletcher made Geraint Jones unavailable leading to Niall O’Brien’s recall, while injuries to Michael Carberry (hand), Amjad Khan (side strain), Andrew Hall (ankle) and Justin Kemp (hamstring) led to run outs for Simon Cook and England Under-19 bat Joe Denly.

Denly, making only his second league appearance, duly opened Kent’s reply in tandem with Rob Key to post 27 for the first wicket before Key (14) flailed at a wide one from Deon Kruis to be caught behind.

Martin van Jaarsveld then joined forces with Denly to add a patient 83 for the second wicket which, although spread over 18 overs, ensured Kent had wickets in hand for the sprint to the finish line.

Looking understandably nervous at first, Denly opened his boundary account with a slightly miscued off-drive against Matthew Hoggard before settling down to his more recognisable wristy style.

He also ran superbly between the wickets, often turning twos into threes and even adding a five to his tally when a cheeky single drew a wild shy at the stumps and four overthrows.

The willowy right-hander from Whitstable scored 49 from 80 balls and with four fours before clipping back a return catch to Michael Vaughan.

Van Jaarsveld was two short of his 50, his best score from 15 innings in all forms of cricket, when he fell leg before to Anthony McGrath when pulling across the line.

With 73 required from the last 10 overs Spitfires were in need of acceleration, but Darren Stevens (13) perished leg before when trying to sweep.

In the next over Niall O’Brien was forced to sacrifice his wicket to a run out when skipper Walker called him through for a suicidal run to Vaughan at cover.

Left-handers Walker and Tredwell chipped away at the run rate until cutting loose in the penultimate over to take 12 off Hoggard’s final over and all but clinch a deserved win.

Batting first on a previously used wicket, Yorkshire’s batsmen found free scoring difficult against the new white ball and were thankful to England skipper Vaughan who, in a rare appearance between Tests, held the innings together with his first league century from 120 balls and with 10 fours.

Martin Saggers beat the bat on numerous occasions down the Kirkstall Lane slope but without reward in his opening burst of five overs.

Simon Cook also extracted extravagant seam movement from the Rugby Stand End, so much so that Walker posted three slips.

The move paid dividends when Craig White fenced at Cook’s leg-cutter to edge to James Tredwell at third slip.

Cook struck again four overs later to remove left-hander Phil Jacques who, in attempting to work to leg, found a leading edge to spoon a catch to Tredwell at mid-off to make it 29 for two.

Vaughan then teamed up with Michael Lumb to add 60 in 12 overs for the third wicket.

The introduction of spin at both ends broke the stand with off-spinner Tredwell proving the more difficult proposition of the two on a pitch offering some spin.

He beat left-handed Lumb as he ran down the pitch attempting to drive the ball turning to beat the outside edge and leave O’Brien with a straightforward stumping chance.

Tredwell, who had a hand in the first four wickets to fall, made it two for two in eight balls by deceiving Anthony McGrath in the flight for the burly right-hander to clip a comfortable return catch back to the bowler.

Tredwell finished his nine overs with two for 29 then Ferley got in on the act by having Richard Pyrah (10) caught by Joseph running in from deep mid-wicket off a top edged sweep.

After reaching his half-century from 74 balls with five fours Vaughan went on to post a season’s best one-day score for the Tykes, comfortably beating his 58 in Ireland.

With his two front line spinners bowled out, Walker kept pace off the ball by introducing the gentle medium pace of Stevens and the occasional off-spin of van Jaarsveld as his sixth and seventh bowlers.

Again the move paid dividends for Walker when Stevens had Ismail Dawood caught at long off by Cook, but no one could dislodge England’s Ashes skipper whose finished on the losing side despite his unbeaten 116.

Saggers, having sent down his first five overs for 13 runs, came back to bowl a tight last over but once again Kent failed to give their most frugal bowler his full allocation.

Kent won by five wickets