Denly and Parnell inspire Spitfires to Middlesex win
Joe Denly and Wayne Parnell took three wickets each as Kent Spitfires bowled superbly to defend a low total to defeat Middlesex.
Parnell struck twice with the new ball on his farewell appearance and supported by tidy ten-over spells by Darren Stevens (1/36) and James Tredwell (1/29) as the hosts bowled out Middlesex for just 154.
Sam Northeast top-scored with 55 as Kent set the visitors 201 to win but a superb display with the ball helped the Spitfires break their duck in the 50-over format.
The visitors lost Dawid Malan in the third over when the left-hander sparred outside off against Wayne Parnell to nick to second slip.Four balls later, South Africa left-armer Parnell, in his last home game of his current spell as Kent’s overseas all-rounder, ran one back up the Canterbury slope to trap Nick Gubbins lbw for a single.
Adam Voges and Nick Compton added 47 before Kent struck through Darren Stevens, who belied his 41 years by taking a stunning return catch from a Voges’ drive to make it 49 for three.
Eleven runs later and Spitfires were celebrating again when a direct hit from 12th man Will Gidman, substituting for the injured Matt Coles, ran out John Simpson after Nick Compton had called for a sharp single to the cover fielder.
Coles returned after treatment for a sore shin to pocket a comfortable catch off the bowling of James Tredwell that ended Compton’s 85-ball stay for a painstaking 37 and left Tredwell with one for 29 from his 10 overs.
Keeping pace off the ball, Denly struck to have Ryan Higgins caught behind, then, in his next over, he trapped Toby Roland-Jones lbw when working across the line.
Middlesex, with only three wickets remaining, still required 78 going into their final 10 overs when Denly, leaping full-length to his left caught a rasping James Franklin drive one-handed to send the visiting skipper packing for 33.
Mitch Claydon replaced Denly to have James Fuller caught off a skier leaving Parnell to finish it with another reflex return catch that accounted for Ravi Patel and end with figures of three for 33.
Kent lost the toss in overcast conditions and were duly invited to bat with the floodlights already on. The gloom deepened after only two deliveries when Daniel Bell-Drummond, fresh from scoring back-to-back hundreds, feathered a defensive push against Roland-Jones into the gloves of Simpson to depart without scoring.
Home skipper Sam Northeast and Denly steadied the Spitfires with a stand of 52 that ended in the 13th over when Denly (19) pulled a short one to mid-wicket where Voges held a stinging overhead chance.
Northeast posted his 13th List A half-century from 73 balls and with six fours. He and Sean Dickson added 44 before the latter miscued his attempted pull against Franklin to mid-on to go for 29.
Northeast followed five balls after his 50, sweeping against Ravi Patel, the Kent skipper skied to the keeper to go for 55 having spent almost two hours at the crease. While Alex Blake lasted only five minutes, tamely hanging his bat out to dry against Franklin, the left-hander went for two after edging a third catch to Simpson behind the timbers.
The procession of Kent batsmen to the pavilion continued when Stevens (18) miscued to extra cover to give Patel a second scalp, bringing together Adam Rouse and Parnell (32) for a vital seventh-wicket stand worth 34.
With little to lose Parnell, playing his 99th List A innings, went for his strokes only to smear Malan’s first ball of the day, a low full-toss, straight into the hands of Tom Helm at deep mid-wicket.
Matt Coles edged an attempted drive against Helm to slip where Voges took off to hold a stunning overhead catch diving to his left, then, to the first ball of the third and final powerplay, Adam Rouse (9) nicked an attempted cut to his Middlesex counterpart Simpson to give Helm a second wicket.
With four of their 50 overs still to be bowled, Kent’s last man Claydon, who had just hooked the only six of his side’s innings, was yorked by Roland-Jones, the pick of the Middlesex attack with three for 35 from his 10 overs.
The Spitfires travel to Gloucestershire, Surrey and Glamorgan next week before a day-night Battle of the Bridge showdown against Essex Eagles at The Spitfire Ground on Wednesday 17 May (1.30pm).