Denly and Northeast hit 50s in Glamorgan loss
Sunday 30th July 2017
Joe Denly and Sam Northeast half-centuries were not enough for Kent Spitfires to chase 200 down to defeat Glamorgan in the NatWest T20 Blast.
The bowling proved the difference as both sides hit two half-centuries in front of more than 5,000 spectators at The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence.
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Jacques Rudolph and Aneurin Donald passed 50 for the visitors after Kent invited them to bat first.
Rudolph’s captain’s knock of 77 not out from 52 balls saw Glamorgan post 199 for 2 on an excellent Canterbury pitch – a pursuit that proved too tough despite Denly passing 300 runs to become the South Group’s top scorer.
Looking for their fourth south group win, Kent’s chase started with panache when Denly straight drove Michael Hogan’s fourth delivery for a straight six.
At the other end Daniel Bell-Drummond went for three, dragging Lukas Carey’s third delivery on to bring in Spitfires skipper Sam Northeast with 21 on the board.
Denly clattered hit the ropes three times as Graham Wagg’s first over of left-arm seam went for 13, yet Kent were still 10 behind the visitors come the end of the powerplay.
Northeast upped the tempo with a swept six against Colin Ingram’s wrist spin and, with spin at both ends, Denly repeated the dose against off-spinner Andrew Salter to keep Kent ticking at eight-an-over.
Hitting to the shortest boundary on the Old Dover Road side of the ground, Northeast cleared the ropes again against Ingram as did Denly over extra cover against Wagg as Spitfires reached 93 for one at the mid-point of their reply.
After taking a wicket and conceding only two in his opening over, Carey leaked 17 in his second over as Northeast cantered to a 28-ball 50 with four sixes.
Northeast (60) holed out to deep mid-wicket when targeting another six off Marchant de Lange to end a second-wicket stand of 89 and bring in left-hander Alex Blake, but Denly continued serenely, lofting Wagg for a third maximum in a 36-ball half-century.
Blake (4) chipped to long-off in Craig Meschede’s first over to be replaced by all-rounder Jimmy Neesham, but suddenly the boundaries dried up and, with 36 required from the last five overs, Kent slipped behind the Duckworth/Lewis/Stern rate for the first time.
Wagg had his revenge by having Denly (68) caught on the ropes at deep mid-wicket and Kent’s outside victory hopes went with him.
Bowling first after winning the toss, Kent made two changes to the side that beat Somerset on Friday night. Injured New Zealand paceman Adam Milne was replaced by Calum Haggett, while veteran off-spinner James Tredwell was preferred to rookie left-armer Imran Qayyum.
Glamorgan made a watchful start through openers Jacques Rudolph and Aneurin Donald, who opened their side’s boundary account in the third over when Matt Coles leaked 15 runs.
Jimmy Neesham also conceded 15 from his second over as Glamorgan completed their powerplay overs without alarm in reaching 62 without loss.
Taking a low-risk approach to batting by keeping the ball on the turf with proper cricket strokes, the visiting openers complimented each other superbly and kept the board ticking just as nicely.
Donald was first to his 50 from 30 balls only to lose his middle stump when playing across the line to Haggett’s very next delivery that made it 88 for one.
Glamorgan dangerman Colin Ingram marched in with 275 runs already to his name in this season’s Blast and – with his side on 93 for one at the mid-point of their innings – appeared intent on accelerating the run rate.
Rudolph raised Glamorgan’s 100 with an impudent reverse flick for six off Haggett then left-hander Ingram cleared the ropes with a slog sweep off the next delivery from Tredwell.
But, with his score on 11, Ingram risked a lofted straight drive off Coles and miscued high to long-off where Bell-Drummond took a stunning steepling catch on the run.
Rudolph cantered to his 50 from 35 balls and finished unbeaten on 77 from 52, while David Miller contributed a useful 43 not out from 25 balls, plundering 19 off Claydon’s last over to set Spitfires a tough asking rate of 10 an over for victory.
