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Kent Spitfires suffer three wicket defeat to Glamorgan in Royal London One-Day Cup despite Darren Stevens century

21:25, 28 July 2015

Darren Stevens blazed a superb century but Kent Spitfires let the chance of their first win of the Royal London One-Day Cup campaign slip late-on against Glamorgan at soggy Cardiff on Tuesday night.

The evergreen all-rounder, 39, smashed 110 from just 64 balls, his sixth List A ton in a glittering one-day career, and with able support from skipper Sam Northeast (74), Kent looked to have more than enough breathing space, despite having lost the toss and been tasked to bat first.

And despite a century in reply from Colin Ingram, Kent looked strong favourites long after a rain delay halted proceedings with 46 balls remaining and 97 runs still required by the home side.

However a staggering onslaught from the hosts caught Kent cold, with Chris Cooke smashing seven fours and four sixes to reach 94 not out from 54 balls, clubbing the winning runs with two balls to spare of the final over from Mitch Claydon.

No team had previously won chasing a score of more than 300 at the ground, and Kent were left still seeking their first win in this year's competition.

Earlier, after Daniel Bell-Drummond (10) and Joe Denly (28) gave the visitors a solid platform, the electric Sam Billings and Northeast came together on 54/2 in the 12th over and piled on 104 for the third wicket.

Billings was eventually stumped off Dean Cosker for a run-a-ball 56 but Northeast remained to add another 46 with Stevens before departing for a fine 74 from 90 balls which included eight fours.

Kent were 204/4 with 13 overs remaining but Alex Blake (6) didn't linger and it was Fabian Cowdrey who was at the other end for a nine-over, 96-run blitz led by Stevens.

The veteran launched nine fours and cleared the ropes six times, turning 64 deliveries into a fine haul of 110 runs before holing-out in the final over.

Darren Stevens. Picture: Barry Goodwin.
Darren Stevens. Picture: Barry Goodwin.

Cowdrey (22) followed the very next ball, but Michael Hogan couldn't complete a hat-trick, and Kent eventually posted 317/7.

Northeast's side made a fine start to the reply as Matt Coles tempted skipper Jacques Rudolph to nick behind for a 10-ball duck to leave the hosts 4/1 from 16 balls.

Will Bragg and Ingram however held firm, frustrating Kent with a succession of boundaries and adding 126 balls in a gritty 26-over stand to give the hosts genuine hope.

However the spin of James Tredwell and Fabian Cowdrey stemmed the run-rate and eventually Ivan Thomas claimed a fine caught-and-bowled to dismiss Bragg for 59.

It was 156/3 with 17 overs remaining when Claydon got Aneurin Donald to hole out to Bell-Drummond for 12.

Ingram looked imperious on his way past 100, but he was eventually dismissed for 109 from 106 balls, including 12 fours and a six, with Billings taking a superb diving catch off Coles and at that stage the game looked up.

The hosts were 197/4 and needing more than 10 an over and Stevens turned the screw when he had Craig Meschede stumped by Billings for 12 still 105 short of victory with less than nine overs remaining.

The tide turned when a heavy downpour forced the players off for a short time, with Kent well ahead on Duckworth-Lewis, however they came out of the blocks slowly after the delay with the wet ball affecting their bowling.

Though Coles had Mark Wallace caught by Northeast for one, the hosts enjoyed a spell of 57/1 from four overs before Thomas thought he had caught Cook off his own bowling for 52 from 37 balls, only for the Third Umpire to adjudge it a no-ball.

The seventh wicket did eventually fall with the score on 278 when Thomas had David Lloyd (21) caught by Bell-Drummond, however Cooke managed to retain the strike and produced the lion share of a spurt of 101 runs in a seven over spell which incredibly left the hosts needing just two runs to win from the final over.

Kent - whose opening game at home to Essex was washed-out - will seek to recover from the blow with the visit of Hampshire to Canterbury on Thursday (2pm).

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