Bowlers get Kent over the line
Skipper Sam Northeast says Kent will take plenty of positives from their eight-run victory against Hampshire on Wednesday night.
After back-to-back defeats in NatWest T20 Blast South Group, the Spitfires produced an all-round team effort to avenge the previous week’s loss at the Ageas Bowl.
Joe Denly (59) and Sam Billings (55 not out from 30 balls) helped Kent post 193-3 and despite late fireworks from Shahid Afridi and Darren Sammy taking the game to the final over, superb death bowling from David Griffiths (2-24) saw Kent over the line.
Northeast said: “It was never done and dusted. We hoped we could have taken a few more wickets and got the job done a bit quicker but when you have got Sammy and Afridi walking out it wasn’t ideal –they just hit it from ball one.
“You miss your length by a little bit and it goes out of the park with those two. It’s great to have Griff fit again. He’s one of the best bowlers at the death when he’s fit. He was remarkable again.”
Northeast added: “We had to get on a bit of a roll in this competition – we’ve got a lot of good players and we’ll take a lot out of that.”
Northeast claimed Sam Billings “played an absolute gem of a knock” though the keeper-batsman himself admitted: “I’ve been a bit scratchy since I’ve come back from India so it’s nice to get a few in the middle of the bat.”
He added: “Griff was fantastic at the end. Year on year he’s done it, nailing those yorkers.
“He’s one of the best death bowlers in the country. We have got plenty to work on and can get better than that performance, which is pleasing.
“As a white ball outfit we’ve come on leaps and bounds – hopefully we can continue the momentum.”