Key delighted by hard-fought win over Surrey

By Mark Pennell

THOUGH he was made to work longer on Bank Holiday Monday than he might have expected, Kent skipper Rob Key was delighted by his side“s last gasp, six-wicket win over Surrey.
The victory, achieved with only 18 balls to spare on Monday“s fourth and final day, leaves Kent with a healthy 29 point lead in Division 2 with a game in hand on their nearest rivals.
Key concedes his side went into the campaign as short-priced favourites to make an immediate return to the top flight, but he is delighted that his makeshift side appear to be coping with the pressure of being front runners.
He said: “Yes we came into the season as favourites, but it still feels really good to be in the position we are in now. It“s always hard dealing with that tag, but at the minute we“re doing pretty well at it.
“When you get a win in a four-day game that goes that far then you know you“ve worked hard for it. We thought it might be easier today (Monday) because the pitch got pretty flat.
“As frustrating as it is to see tail-enders batting as well as there“s did at least it does give you hope for the run chase ahead because you know it“s a pretty good deck that you have to bat on.
“We could have bowled better in the first session maybe, but on the whole I feel the boys are doing really well. We“ve had Phil Edwards come in and he“s not played a lot of top-flight cricket in his career. Then we“ve got Simon Cook taking the new ball, which I doubt he“s done much, and Amjad Khan just back from a lay-off.
“We don“t have an overseas bowler as yet and we“re still without Ryan McLaren through injury, so all things considered, I was happy to bowl them (Surrey) out twice on a pretty flat pitch.”
As for the chances of signing an overseas option for the final month of the season, Key added: “Everything is in place to bring someone in, we“re waiting on a visa and the paperwork so it“s basically a case of fingers crossed.
“We“re getting to the stage of the season where we could do with a fresh face. We“re asking a lot of our bowlers of the minute and there aren“t too many other options.”
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