Finisher Blake sees Kent home with a six

Alex Blake admitted he needed confirmation his winning hit was a six as he led Kent Spitfires to an exciting one-wicket win over Surrey in the opening Royal London One Day South group contest at Beckenham. Blake who hit three successive maximums to win the Specsavers County Championship Division 2 game at Derby last month reaffirmed his reputation as one of the game’s best finishers, blasting Tom Curran over the ropes off the second last ball, to end on 66 not out off 62 balls. The left hander walked out at No.8, with his side 147- 6 needing 256 to win. He made a cautious start, before adding 72 in 14 overs with Sam Northeast who fell for 47, with 37 still needed. Matt Coles then went for a duck but James Tredwell made seven, in a stand of 26, before being run-out, leaving Blake to get Kent home in style. He said: “I didn’t know it was a six because I was a bit caught up in the moment and just ran off to celebrate, not knowing where it had landed. “To be the one to hit the winning runs against Surrey, of all teams, was pleasing.” He added: “We had to rebuild a little bit when I went in with six down and knew we couldn’t afford to lose any more wickets because the game might have been gone. “Sam was at the other end and in good form himself, so I took my time to get in but we knew all we needed to do was keep things ticking over for a little bit and see where we were with 10 overs left. “We were always up with the rate, so there was no real panic. “I was calm at the start of the last over, when we only needed three but when we needed two off the final two balls it was a little nerve wracking but I tried to read the situation with the field he (Curran) had and what he’d been bowling previously, with a lot of balls into the wicket. “I kind of gambled a little bit on that and managed to flat bat it over mid-on’s head.” Four wickets in four overs put the skids under Kent’s reply, after Daniel Bell Drummond and Joe Denly had added 95 in 18 overs, following the early loss off Tom Latham. Bell Drummond passed 50 for the seventh time in one-day cricket before he and Denly went in consecutive overs, both to catches by Kumar Sangakkara. Cowdrey and Billings followed in quick succession, before Stevens and Northeast stayed to repair the damage before Blake finished things off in style. Earlier, Surrey posted 255- 8 with openers Steve Davies (23) and Jason Roy (32) getting them off to a good start before losing two wickets in successive overs. Sangakkara (58) and Rory Burns (30) then added 78 in 14 overs and late knocks from Sam Curran (22) and skipper Gareth Batty (16 not out) helped them to their total. Kent’s bowling and fielding impressed, with Coles, Tredwell and David Griffiths each taking two wickets each, with Bell-drummond taking three catches. Kent are next in One Day Cup action on Sunday when they host Glamorgan at Canterbury (11am) before returning to The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence on Tuesday when they take on Somerset (11am). They then travel to Chelmsford the following day to take on Essex (11am).

Fall: 1-56, 2-58, 3-136, 4-153, 5-169, 6-206, 7-222, 8-230. Bowling: MT Coles 10-0-63-2, DI Stevens 10-1-45-1, DA Griffiths 10-0-44-2, JC Tredwell 10-1-33-2, FK Cowdrey 10-0-66-1.

Kent DJ Bell-drummond c Sangakkara b Meaker 56 TWM Latham lbw b SM Curran ...........7 JL Denly c Sangakkara b Batty .........38 SA Northeast c Davies b Meaker .......47 FK Cowdrey st Wilson b Ansari ............1 SW Billings c Burns b Meaker .............1 DI Stevens c Sangakkara b Batty ......17 AJ Blake not out ...............................66 MT Coles b Batty.................................0 JC Tredwell run out ............................7 DA Griffiths not out .............................0 Extras (lb 9, w 7, nb 4) ......................20

Total (for 9 wkts, 49.5 overs) 260 Fall: 1-16, 2-111, 3-112, 4-114, 5-115, 6-147, 7-219, 8-226, 9-254. Bowling: TK Curran 9.5-0-54-0, SM Curran 10-0-48-1, MW Pillans 3-018-0, ZS Ansari 10-0-36-1, GJ Batty 10-1-48-3, SC Meaker 7-0-47-3. Kent won by 1 wicket. Points: Kent 2, Surrey 0. Umpires: GD Lloyd and NA Mallender.