Canterbury Cricket Week Opening match – Spitfires v Sharks
Kent’s opening match in the 163rd Canterbury Cricket Week is a Royal London One-Day fixture against neighbours, the Sussex Sharks, 2pm Wednesday 13th August.
The Spitfires enter the match having completed a frustrating trip to the Midlands, with both scheduled matches, against the Notts Outlaws and Warwickshire, abandoned due to the effects of ex-hurricane Bertha. Sussex’s previous fixture was a successful run chase against Somerset at Taunton, resulting in a seven wicket victory.
The Kent Spitfires enter the match sitting on top of Group B with nine points from six matches – three wins, one tie and the two Midlands abandoned matches. The Sharks would fancy their chances of qualifying for the quarter-final places (top four), currently occupying the fourth spot with six points from a three wins, three losses record. For both teams hopes for inclusion in playoff cricket will be greatly enhanced by victory.
Kent Head Coach Jimmy Adams has made one change to the 13 man squad he took north with him, replacing Adam Riley with Imran Qayyym. ‘We were right in the game against Notts when it was called off, so that was pretty frustrating,’ stated Adams. ‘The lads will be keen to compete with Sussex, they are a good team and we shared the honours during NatWest T20.’
The head to head record, in limited over cricket, is in the Spitfires’ favour, with victory in 35 of the 59 encounters. There have been three abandoned matches and the Sharks have been victorious 21 times. The most recent encounter was one of the most memorable matches, with a world record run chase in 40 overs, between the two Counties. Played at The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence, June 2013, Sussex set a formidable target of 336 in their 40, built on a 115 run blitz by Luke Wright (off 61 balls). Starting the chase Kent were always in the hunt with Rob Key and Sam Northeast having a better than run a ball opening partnership of 109 off 77 balls (12.5 overs). In the end it was the phenomenal third wicket partnership between Northeast and Darren Stevens that made the difference. They were together for just over 16 overs, scoring 159 runs, with Stevens out for 118 off just 53 balls. Northeast followed in the 37th over, having accumulated 115 runs off 102 balls. The Spitfires surpassed the huge total set with nine balls remaining, victory by three wickets.
The fixture – Kent Spitfires v Sussex Sharks, 2.00pm, Wednesday 13 August, The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence, Canterbury.
The full squad is:
· Sam Northeast (c)
· Daniel Bell-Drummond
· Sam Billings (w)
· Alex Blake
· Doug Bollinger
· Mitch Claydon
· Fabian Cowdrey
· David Griffiths
· Calum Haggett
· Ben Harmison
· Imran Qayyum
· Darren Stevens
· James Tredwell
Injury Update:
Rob Key, recovering from hamstring tweak
Mark Davies, out for the season
Brendan Nash – side strain