Notts come up just short at Kent

Kent won another nerve-shredding Metro Bank run chase at Beckenham when they beat the Notts Outlaws by five wickets, with just four balls remaining.

Harry Finch top-scored with 88 and Sam Northeast hit 78, but some disciplined bowling by Notts, spear-headed by James Hayes’ three for 45, kept the visitors in it before, for the second game running, Grant Stewart saw Kent home, aided by Chris Benjamin’s unbeaten 55.

Ben Martindale's 101 was not enough to help Notts avoid defeat at Kent.

placeholder image — Ben Martindale's 101 was not enough to help Notts avoid defeat at Kent.

Earlier Ben Martindale hit 101 as Notts posted 293 for nine. Kyle Verrynne weighed in with 71, but Ekansh Singh took for four for 40 to keep the visitors to under 300.

Notts chose to bat and Freddie McCann was dropped on nought by Ekansh off Matt Quinn. He’d only made seven from 25, when he drove Quinn to Bell-Drummond, who pulled off a diving catch.

Notts were 41 for one at the end of the powerplay and Tayyab Tahir was next to go, caught and bowled off a leading edge by Ekansh for six. Haseeb Hamed then swiped Matt Parkinson to Ben Dawkins for 23, but Martindale and Verrynne put on 81 for the next wicket.

Both set batters took singles from Jaydn Denly to pass 100 and 50, respectively in the 37th over, but the partnership was broken when Martindale whipped Evison to Northeast midwicket.

Finch then took a brilliant one-handed catch after Verreynne slog swept Parkinson.

Sam Seecharan was caught by Denly for 14 off Ekansh and Stewart got Byron Hatton-Lowe with a slow one for three, caught backward point by Northeast.

Lyndon James was on 43 when he holed out to Ekansh, caught brilliantly again by Finch and with the final ball of the innings Sam Wood fell for a golden duck, caught by Northeast.

The chase wasn’t straightforward. Kent lost Ben Dawkins for eight, flicking Lyndon James to Sam Wood at third man and the in-form Daniel Bell-Drummond flicked Hatton-Lowe to Ahmed for 44.

Finch and Northeast seemed to be cruising, but Hayes broke 115-run stand when brilliantly plucked a violent pull from Northeast one-handed from the air at midwicket.

Farhan Ahmed couldn’t reel in an equally violent chance from Benjamin when he was on 13, however, and in the 44th Benjamin hit 14 from three balls from Ahmed to reduce the tension.

Kent needed still needed 30 from 34 when Finch pulled Hatton-Lowe to Tahir at midwicket

and Ekansh Singh then fell for four off 10, hitting James Hayes to James at long on.

With needed 21 from 12 Notts were back in it, but Benjamin hit James for four then six, and when Stewart blasted the last ball of the over for another maximum, Kent needed just two from the last six – and two singles saw them home.