Glam stay without win as they slump to fourth loss
WITH four defeats from as many starts, Glamorgan are effectively out of the Royal London One-Day Cup and held a team meeting for more than 45 minutes after this latest defeat.
Kent’s acting captain Joe Denly starred with ball and then bat to help Spitfires open their win account with a four-wicket victory with 11 balls to spare in Canterbury.
Denly collected four for 56 with his burgeoning leg-spinners to restrict the winless Welsh side to 274, then picked up his bat to hit an unbeaten 150 from 143 balls to ease his team to their first south group success from three starts.
The day started well enough for Glamorgan, with the game level with the home side 185-4, but left-handed Alex Blake formed a match-defining fifth-wicket partnership with Denly.
The pair added 88 in 12 overs, a Kent fifth-wicket record for List A games against Glamorgan, with Denly as the major aggressor.
Having picked up ducks in his first two RLODC innings of the summer, Denly cantered to a 105-ball century, reaching three figures with a six over mid-wicket against spinner Andrew Salter to go with is 13 boundaries.
Denly stood firm throughout, steering his side over the win line with his 19th boundary to beat his previous List A record score of 115 set against Warwickshire at Edgbaston in 2009. It was also Kent’s highest ever innings in 50-over cricket, beating Darren Stevens’ 147 against Glamorgan in Swansea last season.
Fielding first after winning the toss, Kent’s leading wicket-taker Matt Henry nipped one back up the St Lawrence slope to trap Aneurin Donald leg before.
But Nick Selman manoeuvred the ball around nicely on the way to his maiden List A half-century from 66 balls and with six fours.
The introduction of Denly’s leg-spin urged Shaun Marsh to try and move up a gear but, with his score on 45, the left- hander drilled to long-on where Henry parried the ball before diving from behind the rope to complete the catch and end a stand worth 102 in 23 overs.
Colin Ingram upped the tempo with a six off Mitch Claydon, but Denly won Kent’s revenge, having the Glamorgan dangerman caught on the deep midwicket boundary.
Henry pocketed another fine catch in the deep, running around at longoff to take a David Lloyd skier off Denly, then Claydon returned to clip Selman’s off stump with an off cutter with the right-hander eight short of his first List A ton.
Denly bamboozled Chris Cooke with a shooting top-spinner, Salter lost leg stump heaving across the line to Claydon, Henry had Smith caught at extra cover, van de Gugten edged behind to give Claydon a flattering third and Wagg (49) holed out to off the deserving Haggett.