Opener proves without equal

Joe Denly’s tally of 567 runs from 14 innings (average 43,61, strike rate 150.79) made him the country’s most prolific batsman in the group stages. Yorkshire’s Adam Lyth, with 535 from 12 knocks (average 44.58, S/R 164.61), was next best. Denly’s aggregate has only once been beaten by a Kent player – skipper Sam Northeast scoring 641 in 2015 – and included one half-century and two hundreds with his superb 127 against Essex at Chelmsford being the county’s record individual score in the format. His opening stand of 207 with Daniel Bell-drummond, who made 80 not out, was a world record. The 31-year-old also hit 25 sixes – a total only bettered by three men – Varun Chopra (Essex), David Willey (Yorkshire) and Riki Wessels (Nottinghamshire), all of whom hit 26. He now needs just 51 runs to reach 3,000 for Kent in T20s and stands second on the club’s all-time batting charts behind Darren Stevens, who has 3,128 runs from 158 matches. Denly’s opening partner Bell-drummond was the country’s seventh highest run scorer, with 462 runs at 38.50 (S/R 135.08), while Sam Billings (361 at 32.81, S/R 148.55) was 19th and skipper Sam Northeast (345 at 31.36, S/R 137.45) 23rd. New Zealand all-rounder Jimmy Neesham scored 203 runs at 29 (S/R 127.67) while Alex Blake mustered 116 runs from 11 innings at 16.57 (top score 27, S/R 111.53) and middle order partner Darren Stevens 113 from eight at 14.12 (top score 19, S/R 124.17). Despite only playing half of the games Adam Milne was Kent’s leading wicket taker, with 15 at an average of 12.46 – putting him 14th overall. He also boasted the best economy rate of the county’s bowlers – 7.23 – and his figures of 5-11 against Somerset at Taunton were the best ever by a Kent bowler in the competition Milne’s Kiwi compatriot Neesham was Kent’s next highest wicket taker, with 14 but they came at a cost of 33.07 and he was also the most expensive Kent bowler, conceding an average of 9.41 runs an over. Matt Coles – whose eight wickets in 11 matches (average 44.05) included a hat-trick against Middlesex at Richmond – went for 9.36 an over, while Mitch Claydon took 11 wickets at 35.63 and went for 9.33 an over. The seamer is, however, up to third spot in Kent’s all-time rankings with 72 wickets, overtaking Azhar Mahmood (70) and Simon Cook (69) this summer. James Tredwell (119 wickets in 142 matches) and Darren Stevens (99 in 158) are the only men now ahead of him. Stevens took four wickets (average 39.75) this season and conceded an average of 8.67 per over, while Tredwell took four wickets at 54 (rpo 8.00 from eight games) and fellow spinner Imran Qayyum seven at 39.14 (rpo 8.30 from 10 matches). Calum Haggett claimed eight wickets among them international duo Brendon Mccullum and Jason Roy – at 23 and recorded the second best ecomony rate behind Milne – 7.66. Qayyum held three catches in the win against Essex at Chelmsford, a feat matched by Alex Blake in the defeat against Middlesex at Richmond. They now join a list of seven Kent players who have taken three catches in an innings, Matt Coles having achieved it twice.

Daniel Bell-drummond