Match Preview: Kent Spitfires v Essex Eagles FLt20, THIS FRIDAY

Kent Spitfires v Essex Eagles
Friends Life t20 – South Division
Friday,5 July – 7.00pm start
The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence

The Kent Spitfires welcome the Essex Eagles to The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence on Friday night for a crucial Friends Life t20 encounter. The hosts are seeking a win as they aim to launch a bid for a quarter-final berth.

The team

Kent have named the following 12-man team for the visit of the Eagles: Tredwell (c), Key, Northeast, Billings (w), Stevens, Blake, Harmison, Philander, Coles, Claydon, Riley, Cowdrey

Players to watch:

Sam Billings has been entrusted with a crucial role in the side this year, batting at three and keeping wicket. He averages just over 18 from 16 FLt20 appearances but will hope to build on that this season. Billings is a big-hitter and is capable of producing fireworks at the top of Kent’s batting card.

The Eagles are full of t20 specialists but one name stands out, perhaps, more than most; Australian pace bowler Shaun Tait. The right-hand quick only plays limited-overs cricket and can be destructive on his day. He has taken 127 domestic t20 wickets at an average of 21.33 with his speed acting as his greatest weapon.

Pre-match chat:

Kent spin bowler Adam Riley impressed with the ball in the last outing against Surrey. He can't wait to take on the Essex Eagles under lights at Canterbury: "I'm really looking forward to the game. Hopefully we can finally get off and running in this competition with a good win against our rivals from the other side of the bridge! Hopefully we'll get another good crowd under the floodlights and put together a good performance against the Eagles.”

The season so far:

The Spitfires have made a slow start to their FLt20 campaign after suffering defeats at the hands of the Middlesex Panthers and Surrey in their first two games. In a rain-affected clash at Canterbury the visitors chased down a revised target of 111 with two balls to spare – despite the heroics of debutant Vernon Philander. Billings and Darren Stevens both scored quick-fire knocks of 26 as Kent posted 129-5 off their 15 overs. The pace of Philander (4-8) then ripped out the Panthers top-order before Adam Rossington blasted 41 from 20 balls to see Middlesex home.

Surrey followed two days later and they cruised to a 31-run victory. The visitors batted first on a baking hot day in Canterbury and Steve Davies was in sizzling form – hitting an unbeaten 95 – as his side posted 176 for three. In reply Sam Northeast struck an attractive 61 but he lacked support as Kent fell short if their victory target.

The Essex Eagles were thwarted by the rain in their season opener against the reigning champions, Hampshire Royals. Only 2.1 overs were available with Essex reaching 18-1.

Previous meetings:

In this same fixture last season, Essex took victory by 23-runs on a pleasant evening in early July. The visitors batted first and were led by Mark Pettini’s half-century as they made a competitive, yet gettable, 149 for five. Stevens returned 3-13 for the hosts to prove the medium-pacers worth on a slow wicket. Essex seam bowlers David Masters, Reece Topley and James Franklin then shared seven wickets as Kent failed to get going in their run-chase. Geraint Jones made a sprightly 24 but six batsmen were clean bowled as the Spitfires reached 126-9 in reply.

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Tickets will also be available on the gate.