Mahmood steers Kent to comfortable win over Glamorgan

Kent Spitfires v Glamorgan Dragons, Friends Provident t20, South Group, Canterbury.
Glamorgan 126-6 (20 overs), Kent 130-4 (19.1 overs). Kent won by six wickets.
By Mark Pennell
The Spitfires marked Battle of Britain weekend by posting their fifth win of the Friends Provident t20 campaign to move off the foot of the South Group.
Kent recorded their second home win in this their final group game at St Lawrence with five balls to spare courtesy of an unbroken fifth-wicket stand of 58 between Geraint Jones (22*) and man-of-the-match Azhar Mahmood (30*).
Chasing Glamorgan“s low key total of 126 for six at an asking rate of 6.4 an over, Kent made the worst possible start by losing James Hockley to the third ball of the reply, caught behind when pushing away from his body at a Robert Croft arm ball.
After a second-wicket stand of 44 Martin van Jaarsveld eventually went for25 with Croft again the wicket-taker. Having been dropped at long-off by James Harris on 23, van Jaarsveld went two runs and two balls later from a miscued sweep to short fine-leg.
Azhar Mahmood was promoted to bat No4 and teamed up with Joe Denly to add 28, though Denly should have gone for 18 when Ben Wright dropped a comfortable chance at deep square-leg off the bowling of Dean Cosker.
Mahmood should also have gone when on two but Harris, running in and then diving from deep cover, was unable to cling on to a low chance again off Cosker. The resultant single posted the Kent 50.
Denly“s luck ran out with his score on 36 from 38 balls when he missed an attempted drive against Croft that gave the veteran off-spinner excellent figures of three for 19.
Glamorgan“s Australian pace bowler Shaun Tait opened with a maiden but his third over proved more costly as in-form Darren Stevens collected a brace of boundaries; a glance to fine-leg then a rasping drive through backward point.
Stevens blotted his copybook on 10, however, when he advanced in aiming to hit Cosker back over his head, only to be stumped by Mark Wallace and make it 87 for four.
Spitfires required a further 39 to win going into the final five overs and made the task a comfortable one by taking 12 off the 18th over from Jamie Dalrymple. It was plain sailing thereafter.
Batting first after winning the toss Glamorgan made a steady if unspectacular start on a dry, spin -friendly pitch being used for the third time this season. As a result, boundaries were few and far between, indeed Glamorgan hit the ropes only 10 times and cleared them just once through Dalrymple.
Mark Cosgrove, having got off the mark with a brace of streaky boundaries to third man in the opening over of the match from Mahmood, went on to be their modest top-scorer with 36 from 33balls with five fours.
After an opening stand worth 48, Jim Allenby (17) was first to go in the eighth over when he clipped an Ashley Shaw full-toss straight to Matt Coles at deep mid-wicket.
Wrist-spinner Malinga Bandara proved an instant success by taking two wickets in his first over from the Pavilion End. He had Wallace caught at short fine-leg off a top-edged reverse sweep then, two balls later, Tom Maynard (0) skied a slog sweep to Denly at long-on.
In his next over Bandara removed the burly Cosgrove, this time Denly had to dive to take a stunning catch on the run at long-off, to give the Sri Lankan figures of three for 15.
The Welsh posted their 100 in the 18th over but then lost two more batsmen to run outs in the late scurry for runs. Ben Wright (27) was sent packing by Mahmood“s direct hit following through then Gareth Rees was undone by Alex Blake“s direct hit from long off when attempting two.
Dalrymple attempted to hit out lustily in the final three overs without ever really finding his timing, he did hit the sole six off Coles over long-on, however, and finished unbeaten on 33 from 35 balls.