Kent under GrahamB (v12.24)

[GrahamB]

KENT v HAMPSHIRE (Twenty Over Cup)

We got a reality check in our second 20/20 match though.

The Hampshire openers came out swinging from the start and things never really slowed down after that, meaning that we were left with the stiff challenge of chasing down 174/4.

We were never really in the hunt this time, as the required run rate kept getting further and further away from us.
Aging warrior Mahmood stood out with the bat, scoring an unbeaten 46 as we finished well short at 148/6.

[GrahamB]

KENT v SURREY (Twenty Over Cup)

Disappointed by the continuing poor form of Darren Stevens and Simon Cook with the ball, we brought in two young pace bowlers who've been performing well for the second team. Ian Thomas would be making his debut, while Ashley Shaw has only had three previous 20/20 outings with the first team.

Surrey batted first and opening batsman Steve Davies carried his bat with a superb 91no, as the visitors scored 173/3.

In reply, we always seemed to be in with a chance, but again we were prevented from success by batsmen getting starts, but failing to go on to big scores.



Still in the hunt at this early stage, but we'll need to pick up some more wins, obviously.

[GrahamB]

NEWS

England gave the Windies a good thrashing in the 3rd Test to take out the series 2-1.

Our young fast bowler, Adam Ball, has recovered from injury.
I'm feeling more confident about many of our young pacemen - Ball, Kemp, Thomas and Shaw all showing promise as they continue to develop.

[GrahamB]

ESSEX v KENT (Twenty Over Cup)

Our batsmen found scoring difficult and only Mahmood developed a decent innings.
Our total of 144/8 was always going to be tough to defend, especially for our predominantly young pace attack.
Owais Shah proved to be the difference between the two sides, as his easy on the eye 67 set the home side up to achieve victory.



We're steadily sinking towards the foot of the points table.

[GrahamB]

HAMPSHIRE v KENT (Twenty Over Cup)

This was a cruel loss and again it was one player who made all of the difference.
Even though none of our batsmen could build a big innings, we still managed a challenging 158/9.
Trouble was that Faf Du Plessis pretty much won the match for Hampshire on his own, with a brutal knock of 93no off just 65 balls.
The main positive aspect for us was the accurate bowling of Adam Ball who finished with figures of 4-0-24-2.



Oh dear!

[GrahamB]

News

As expected, Brendan Nash has been called upon for International duties by the Windies board of selectors.
Therefore Zimbabwean, Hamilton Masakadza, comes into our side.
We shouldn't lose much there I wouldn't think! In fact, Hamilton's leg spin could be a handy bonus.

[GrahamB]

KENT v MIDDLESEX (Twenty Over Cup)

Finally, another win!
Our bowlers bowled superbly under cloudy skies to restrict the visitors to 140/4.
Then Naylor, Key and Masakadza batted us into a winning position.



Still propping up the other teams on the points ladder though. Can we come home with a flourish in the remaining games?

[GrahamB]

SUSSEX v KENT (Twenty Over Cup)

Another tight game, but this time we prevailed again!

Nash and Goodwin set the home side up to reach 160/3 in difficult conditions.

Naylor and Mahmood responded in kind to keep us around or above the required run rate all the way through.
However, it was left to Cowdrey and Blake to see us through to victory.



Looks like we're still in with a chance of progressing in this competition. The next match will be crucial!

[GrahamB]

News

Two players have been promoted from our youth team to join our squad - 20 year old batsman Dominic Cole and 21 year old keeper Roy McDowell.
My gut feeling is that neither is likely to become a regular first team player in the near future, but life can be full of surprises!

England defeated the Windies 2-1 in the ODI series, following their success in the Test series by a similar margin.
The sole 20/20 International was also taken out by the English.

England is currently 3-0 up in the ODI series against the visiting Aussies.
Of course, everybody is really looking forward to the upcoming Ashes series.

[GrahamB]

SURREY v KENT (Twenty Over Cup)

Simon Cook celebrated his return to the first team by having Kevin Pietersen caught behind off the first ball of the match.
He then cleaned out the other opener to have the home side trying to rebuild.
We were pleased to restrict Surrey to 140/7 and fancied ourselves with a great chance of picking up a third victory on the trot.

However our top order was cleaned up by the spin of Kartik who took 5/18, and then Dernbach who cleaned out the tail after we'd recovered into a winning position.

[GrahamB]

KENT v ESSEX (Twenty Over Cup)

A superb effort in the field saw the visiting Essex side struggle through to 134/6.
There were a few nervous moments for us as we lost wickets at regular intervals, but Mahmood and Powell stopped the rot with a fine partnership that took us through to victory.



Miraculously, we're still in with a chance of qualifying for the next stage!

[cricfan1]

waoo Kent looks to be inform

but Very thin chance to be a Top two as one game only left

You got a grip now now

[Imager36]

Random Kent update from me - Coming in to the T20 break, boy do we need it! Last place in the County Championship, with one win (Northants) and 2 draws, but all the other teams have conspired to have 3 or 4 wins each Also bottom of the CB40 group, with one win over the Unicorns and one defeat to them (1 run!), and some other close results including a loss by 2 wickets in the last over.

In terms of players, Key almost has 1000 championship runs, with 2 double hundreds in 2 games early season. The batting has been adequate, but the bowling dire. 39 wickets for Tredwell so far, only he and Davies have taken anything regularly. Bring on the T20.

[GrahamB]

Random Kent update from me - Coming in to the T20 break, boy do we need it! Last place in the County Championship, with one win (Northants) and 2 draws, but all the other teams have conspired to have 3 or 4 wins each Also bottom of the CB40 group, with one win over the Unicorns and one defeat to them (1 run!), and some other close results including a loss by 2 wickets in the last over.

In terms of players, Key almost has 1000 championship runs, with 2 double hundreds in 2 games early season. The batting has been adequate, but the bowling dire. 39 wickets for Tredwell so far, only he and Davies have taken anything regularly. Bring on the T20.

Rob Key has been disappointing for me in general. Perhaps he's about to hit form!

I see in the other Kent story that Harmison hasn't done too badly. Didn't have too much luck with him in my side and his second team stats don't suggest he's anything special. However, I might need to give him another chance.

As I mentioned, it's interesting how sides develop differently in different games.

[GrahamB]

MIDDLESEX v KENT (Twenty Over Cup)

Our Twenty Over Cup campaign ended with a whimper, as the home bowlers made maximum use of the favourable conditions to rip through our batting.

Middlesex batted first and scored 146/7, largely thanks to an aggressive knock from uncontracted 21 year old Reeds.
None of our batsmen could cope with the bowling as we slumped to an embarrassing 74 all out in just the 12th over!



Perhaps we wouldnt have qualified anyway if we'd won, but it was still a disappointing way to finish.
Masakadza has been poor to date, unlike Brendan Nash who was our star batsman.