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Australia’s record low in T20Is hands New Zealand series

THE REPORT BY DANIEL BRETTIG22-Feb-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsHolly Huddleston removed Elyse Villani for a duck•Getty Images

New Zealand routed Australia for their lowest Twenty20 score to complete a comeback series victory in the decisive match at Adelaide Oval.After being comfortably beaten in the opening match at the MCG, the visitors roared back in the second and third fixtures to complete a memorable boil-over against Australia, rounded off by the second biggest-ever margin of defeat for the three-time World champions in the shortest format.Chasing 114 to clinch the match and the series, the hosts tumbled to 66 all out in 16 overs, with only the vice-captain, Alex Blackwell, offering any sort of resistance with an unbeaten 34-ball 30. A pair of run-outs topped and tailed a disastrous innings, as Lea Tahuhu, Holly Huddleston, and Amelia Kerr shared six wickets between them.Huddleston picked up the critical wicket of captain Meg Lanning in the fourth over of the Australian pursuit, coaxing an edge behind that was well held by Rachel Priest. Australia caved in dramatically thereon – reeling at 5 for 9 in the fifth over – a hole from which there was to be no escaping.By contrast, New Zealand’s innings had been underpinned by firm starts from Priest, Amy Satterthwaite and captain Suzie Bates. The tourists lost much of their early momentum in the face of a fine spell of leg breaks from Amanda-Jade Wellington, who finished with figures of 4 for 16 from her four overs.Bates’ all-round performance earned her both the Player-of-the-Match and the Player-of-the-Series honours.Australia and New Zealand now move into 50-over mode for the Trans-Tasman Rose Bowl series. Ellyse Perry is expected to make her return in this series following a hamstring strain, ahead of the ODI World Cup in England later in the year.

Sri Lanka’s assistant coach Naveed Nawaz, meanwhile, felt too many of his batters failed to capitalise on starts

Andrew Fidel Fernando19-Jul-2023Pakistan will be aggressive as they attempt to knock off the 83 runs they need to get to go 1-0 up in the series. Sri Lanka, meanwhile, need three early wickets to give themselves a chance in the Galle Test.This was the latest from the two camps after play on day four. Although a target of 131 seemed like it would not present Pakistan with much of a challenge, particularly as they had hunted down 342 at this same venue on exactly the same day last year, three late wickets to Sri Lanka, including two to Prabath Jayasuriya, who has a spectacular record at this venue, made Pakistan’s position a little more precarious.Related

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Still, Pakistan have plenty of batting to come (one of those dismissed was nightwatcher Noman Ali), so there’s no cause to worry, said middle order batter Agha Salman. He also suggested there could be more of the new, attacking batting style that Pakistan embraced in the first innings.”We’re very confident, and at the same time we are very excited as well,” he said. “We’ll play the brand of cricket we have been playing since day one.”Sri Lanka’s assistant coach Naveed Nawaz was understandably not quite so upbeat about his team’s chances.”We’re going to go hard and try and put as much pressure on the Pakistan batsmen, to see what we can get out of it,” Nawaz said. ” I think if we can get through to another one or two wickets in their top order, it’s not going to be easy. The wicket seems to be taking a little bit of grip, and a bit of spin as well.”Dhananjaya de Silva followed up his first-innings 122 with 82 in the second•AFP/Getty Images

Sri Lanka were also left to rue their own batting. They had been 54 for 4 in the first innings before recovering through Dhananjaya de Silva to post 312. And in the second innings, they were 99 for 4 before another de Silva innings led a partial recovery.”Most of our batters got starts, and we needed them to carry on and make big runs,” Nawaz said. “If you look at the Pakistani batting, it was just two batters that contributed, and one of them made a big score and the others batted around them to put 400-plus on the board. That’s what we lacked. Dhananjaya was there till the end with a 120-odd. Angelo Mathews also contributed. We needed a few more contributions in the middle.”Unlike many Galle surfaces that take substantial turn from day three onwards, this one has remained reasonable for batting into day four. Sri Lanka, said Nawaz, should have taken advantage.”When we batted the pitch was good, even this morning. There wasn’t a lot of turn, though there was a bit of unevenness. There wasn’t a huge threat.”I thought we should have scored more runs in the second innings. If our batters had done well we could have got at least 100 more runs. In my head I was thinking that we should have batted for 120 overs to get to a good place in this match. Then we could have had them chasing 240 or more. If we had a score that we could have defended for 60 or 70 overs, we would have had the advantage. But that’s not how it happened.”

The match in question was a Tier B clash between Panadura Sports Club and Kalutara Physical Culture, held last week

Andrew Fidel Fernando31-Jan-2017Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) will launch an independent inquiry into a pivotal first-class match in which the pattern of scoring has aroused suspicions among other clubs in the league.The result of last week’s Tier B Premier League match between Panadura Sports Club and Kalutara Physical Culture Club had helped secure Panadura the Tier B title, but second-placed Sri Lanka Ports Authority has since voiced concerns about the game to SLC. The board’s cricket committee has consequently recommended an inquiry.”Yesterday the cricket committee met and they got the reports from the match referee and the umpires,” board vice-president K Mathivanan told ESPNcricinfo. “They will give their observations, and the Executive Committee will be appointing a three-member committee to inquire. Most probably by tomorrow the committee will be appointed.”It is the third (and final) day’s play that has drawn most concern. Having begun the day on 180 for 2 – still in their first-innings response to Kalutara’s 390 – Panadura added 223 runs in 22.3 overs at a run rate of 10.34.The remaining two innings of the match were also played at breakneck pace – Kalutara were bowled out for 197 in 22.5 overs in the second innings, before Panadura hit 167 for 7 in 13.4 to win the game. Around 15 overs had remained in the match for Panadura’s push for victory.Mathivanan said SLC will try and appoint people to the inquiry committee who are unaffiliated with an existing club. This ostensibly rules out most SLC officials, who are routinely involved in the running of domestic clubs.”We want the inquiry to be unbiased, so it has to be independent,” Mathivanan said. “The transparency will be there, and justice will be done.”There were no current international players involved in that match. After this penultimate-round victory, Panadura went on to also defeat Kurunegala Youth Cricket Club and top the table with 134.115 points. SLPA finished with 125.34 points.

Board said the fast bowler had reported the incident immediately to the authorities

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Feb-2023Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) has imposed a five-year ban on a “fan” for making a spot-fixing approach to fast bowler Luke Jongwe in August last year. ZC said that Jongwe had immediately reported the approach to the authorities.”Edward Walter Mupangano, a 27-year-old cricket fan from Harare who in the past also had playing trials with a local club, received the sanction after he approached Luke Jongwe on 4 August 2022 and sought to introduce him to an Indian bookmaker who allegedly wanted the player to bowl in a pre-arranged manner during an international match in return for a payment amounting to US$7000,” ZC said in a statement.”The facilitator himself would allegedly receive US$3000 if the planned corrupt activity was successful.”The board said Mupangano had accepted the charge of violating the anti-corruption code and that he had been banned from all ZC-affiliated events, activities and venues for five years.In the wake of this incident, ZC called for Zimbabwe to make “fixing and any other sporting corruption a criminal offence” under the country’s law.”It is our view that harsh sanctions, including custodial sentences, will go a long way in helping cricket to curb one of the biggest threats to its credibility,” ZC chair Tavengwa Mukuhlani said. “Criminalising match-fixing and spot-fixing will send a strong warning to offenders and would-be offenders that corruption has no place in cricket and those who engage in it should be jailed or put out of the game.”ZC said it would “intensify its anti-corruption education drive within its structures and continue working with the ICC to ensure that cricket locally and globally is not tainted”.”The integrity of ZC and the game itself is of paramount importance and, therefore, the need to maintain high levels of honesty and professionalism at all levels of the game cannot be overemphasised,” ZC managing director Givemore Makoni said. “Let me take this opportunity to place on record our thanks to Luke Jongwe for reporting the approach – this is what is expected of all participants in cricket if we are to keep our game clean.”Jongwe, 28, has played one Test, 37 ODIs and 45 T20Is for Zimbabwe since making his debut in 2014.

BCCI says Pandya suffering from ‘lower back stiffness’, to have rehab work at Bengaluru’s National Cricket Academy

Nagraj Gollapudi21-Feb-2019With less than 100 days for the World Cup, India’s preparation for the tournament suffered a blow with their main allrounder Hardik Pandya ruled out of entire home series against Australia starting this Sunday.Pandya, the BCCI said, was suffering from “lower back stiffness” and so its medical team has decided to send him to the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru next week to undergo strength and conditioning work.Ravindra Jadeja, originally left out from the ODI squad, has been named as replacement for the five-match series, which follows the two T20Is in Visakhapatnam and Bengaluru.Pandya had only recently recovered from a stress fracture of the back. In September 2018, he had to be stretchered off the field while playing an Asia Cup match against Pakistan with the BCCI saying he was suffering from “acute back spasms”. The problem was serious enough that he missed the entire home series against West Indies in October-November and then the first two Tests of the Australia tour as well.Pandya regained full fitness in December and, having proven he can get through the workload of an allrounder in a first-class match for Baroda, joined the Indian team in Melbourne but did not play any part in the subsequent matches of the Boder-Gavaskar Trophy.On the eve of his return, during the ODI series in Australia, he landed in controversy triggered by his comments on a talk show on Indian television. It was shot late last year but aired in early January. In the wake of widespread backlash, the Committee of Administrators (CoA), which runs the BCCI, suspendedboth Pandya and KL Rahul, who appeared alongside him on the same show.Eventually, the CoA lifted the suspensions on both players on the condition that a final decision will be taken once the BCCI’s ombudsman took charge. Justice DK Jain, a retired Supreme Court Judge, did so on Thursday. Pandya rejoined the Indian team during the New Zealand series, playing in six matches, picking up seven wickets and scoring 86 runs.He showed no signs of strain during those performances, which makes the recurrence of this back injury a particular problem for India. Also keeping a close eye on his recovery would be the Mumbai Indians, for whom Pandya has been an important pillar. The IPL starts on March 23.Pandya’s absence would shift the focus on Tamil Nadu allrounder Vijay Shankar who has impressed both the team management and selectors during the New Zealand series. Vijay is being seen as a batting allrounder and is part of the pool of players shortlisted for the World Cup.

Sunday’s training session gave no possible answers to Bharat vs Kishan and how many spinners India will pick

Nagraj Gollapudi04-Jun-2023Two spinners and three fast bowlers? Or one spinner and four fast men including Shardul Thakur as bowling allrounder? Who should be wicketkeeper – the specialist KS Bharat or the X-factor player Ishan Kishan?These are among the key questions that have confronted India since they announced their squad for the WTC final. If you were at The Oval on Sunday, two days before the Test billed as the Ultimate Test, you would have struggled to come away with any hints as to what combination India are leaning towards.Two young men, good friends, both in their 20s, were in focus during India’s first training session in London after almost a week in Arundel where the squad assembled in batches, with players joining at different times while the IPL concluded.Related

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Shubman Gill and Kishan share a close bond off the field, and are not shy to rib each other with friendly banter. Gill needled Kishan as soon as he noticed the left-hander attempting to sweep a few times, albeit not convincingly. Kishan acknowledged that it was “not my shot.”Kishan, who is yet to make his Test debut, had two long batting sessions lasting close to three-quarters of an hour overall, but didn’t practise his keeping. He also had a potential scare late in his second stint, taking a hit to his left forearm while trying to push at a delivery from left-arm quick Aniket Choudhary, one of India’s back-up bowlers. Kishan instantly dropped his bat and walked out to get his forearm iced and wrapped.It didn’t appear to be a serious injury, as Kishan carried two bats comfortably in the hand of his injured arm post-training. A couple of hours later he and Gill walked onto what could potentially be the match pitch for a quick inspection.Though he did not keep wickets, the ample batting time he got is an indicator that India are seriously considering Kishan. Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting said Kishan would feature in his India XI because the left-hander is an “X-factor player that you need when you might be pushing for a win in a Test match.” Ponting felt that job had previously been done by Rishabh Pant, who is recovering from injuries sustained in a car crash last December.Bharat, Kishan’s direct competitor, started the training session with a spell of wicketkeeping drills on one of the practice strips on the main square and then returned to bat. Bharat replaced Pant for the four-Test home series against Australia in February-March and showed signs of being a talent who remains a work-in-progress both behind and in front of the stumps.A major challenge for wicketkeepers in England is that the ball tends to wobble and dip after passing the stumps, so technique and positioning are key attributes while standing back to fast bowlers. Neither Bharat or Kishan have any international experience of keeping in England, though Bharat has kept wickets for India A in one match, against West Indies A in Beckenham in 2018.Mohammed Siraj is expected to start at The Oval, but Umesh Yadav could also feature if India play four quicks•ICC via Getty Images

Overall, the Indians turned up at full strength on a sunny Sunday. While they had their sweatshirt hoodies on in the morning, they discarded them when noon approached and The Oval shone under a clear blue sky.Barring Ajinkya Rahane and the fast-bowling trio of Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj and Umesh Yadav, the rest of the Indian squad got through batting sessions.Gill enjoyed his time in the sun. He has experience of long-format cricket in English conditions, having played two Tests there in 2021, including the previous WTC final in Southampton, as well as three County Championship games for Glamorgan in 2022, scoring 244 runs at an average of 61.00, his four innings including a 92 against Worcestershire and a century against Sussex. Incidentally, Gill batted at No. 3 in all four innings.With KL Rahul injured, Gill is set to open in the WTC final alongside Rohit Sharma. Gill arrives in England on the back of stellar form across all international formats in 2023 and in the IPL. Gill, though, will be mindful both of Australia’s bowling attack and the seamer-friendly conditions where the Dukes ball can surprise the best of batters. On Sunday, Gill spent considerable one-one-one time with batting coach Vikram Rathour.A good opening partnership was a catalyst in India playing the dominant hand in the first four Tests of the 2021-22 Test series in England, with both Rohit and Rahul scoring big runs. Both scored match-winning hundreds, Rahul in the second Test at Lord’s and Rohit in the fourth Test at The Oval.Any apprehension India may have felt about playing in June (The Oval has hosted Test matches since 1880 but never one in June) would have been eased by the forecast for the coming week, promising sunny weather with temperatures ranging from the late teens to the early 20s Celsius. While there was no confirmation about which strip will be used for the match, it will be a fresh pitch with the surface likely to be dry,All three Indian spinners bowled and batted on Sunday, suggesting both R Ashwin and Axar Patel were in contention for the second spinner’s slot if India pick two slow bowlers. But if they field four seamers, India ensured Thakur, Jaydev Unadkat and Umesh were ready alongside the lead new-ball pair of Shami and Siraj.Both Thakur and Unadkat bowled long spells and then had decent batting stints. Unadkat also received advice from head coach Rahul Dravid on his bat swing.Having watched more than three hours of the training the impression you would walk way with was: India are keeping all their options open, but ready.

Zak Chappell encourages hopes that he can lead Derbyshire to better things

ECB Reporters Network16-Apr-2023Leicestershire 451 for 9 dec (Hill 162*, Ackermann 114, Chappell 4-115) drew with Derbyshire 254 for 7 (Guest 92, Wright 4-38)Centuries from Colin Ackermann and captain Lewis Hill, followed by a fine spell of seam bowling by Chris Wright, saw Leicestershire secure the bonus points they needed to go to the top of Division Two in their severely rain-affected championship fixture against Derbyshire.No play had been possible on the previous two days, and with the pitch still relatively new and the outfield still very damp, there was no serious prospect of Hill and opposite number Leus du Plooy agreeing to set up a final day run chase for the visitors.Instead it was a case of maximising the bonus point return, and led by Hill, whose undefeated 162 was his first-class best, Leicestershire did just that before leaving Derbyshire 48 overs of batting.The visitors responded in kind through Brooke Guest (92) and Wayne Madsen (75), before Wright’s 4 for 38 helped the Foxes secure a further two bowling bonus points.Resuming with their partnership already worth 141, Ackermann and Hill continued where they left off on Thursday. Ackermann, who had made 67 and 72 in Leicestershire’s opening match victory over Yorkshire at Headingley, looked back to his considerable best, hitting 18 fours in reaching his century off 165 balls before falling leg before to Anuj Dal.As on day one, Derbyshire’s seamers struggled to bowl a consistently threatening line and length, with the honourable exception of Zak Chappell, whose endeavour was rewarded when he had Peter Handscomb caught at second slip – one of four catches in the innings for Madsen – and going on to pick up the wickets of Rehan Ahmed, Wright and Michael Finan to ensure Derbyshire picked up three bowling bonus points.Hill, however, remained admirably unflustered, reaching his hundred off 211 balls, before accelerating after lunch and passing 150 for the first time in first-class cricket.With nothing to lose, Derbyshire’s batsmen went for their shots, Madsen and Guest putting on 143 for the third wicket after Wright had had Haider Ali leg before wicket. At one stage it looked as though Derbyshire might reach 300 and a second batting point of their own, but Wright came back to dismiss Madsen bowled off the inside edge, and Matt Lamb and Anuj Dal caught at slip, before the players shook hands with two overs remaining.

Auckland fast bowler Lockie Ferguson was rewarded for a bright start to the domestic season with a place in New Zealand’s 14-man squad for the ODI series against Australia next month

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Nov-2016Auckland fast bowler Lockie Ferguson has been named in New Zealand’s 14-man squad for the three ODIs in Australia next month, following his bright start to the domestic season. Legspinner Todd Astle has also found a place in the squad, displacing Ish Sodhi, who had played in the ODIs in India. Batsman Henry Nicholls makes his way back into the ODI fray as well.

New Zealand ODI squad

Kane Williamson (capt), Todd Astle, Trent Boult, Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Colin de Grandhomme, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Colin Munro, Jimmy Neesham, Henry Nicholls, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, BJ Watling
In: Todd Astle, Lockie Ferguson, Colin de Grandhomme,Colin Munro, Henry Nicholls
Out: Corey Anderson (unavailable), Doug Bracewell, Anton Devcich, Luke Ronchi, Ish Sodhi, Ross Taylor (unavailable)

Seam-bowling allrounder Colin de Grandhomme has entered the ODI squad following an impressive Test debut, taking the place of spinning allrounder Anton Devcich. Colin Munro been included in the squad after missing out in India through injury.Batsman Ross Taylor – who will have eye surgery on Wednesday – was unavailable for selection. Fast bowlers Adam Milne and Mitchell McClenaghan, and allrounders Corey Anderson and George Worker, are all out through injury as well. Wicketkeeper-batsman Luke Ronchi has been left out, with BJ Watling preferred.Ferguson, 25, has only played eight List A matches in his career, but has claimed 16 wickets at 28.12 in them. It is his recent first-class form that makes for encouraging reading: he has match figures of 5 for 101, 4 for 107 and 6 for 89 in his most recent Plunket Shield games. New Zealand selector Gavin Larsen said Ferguson was effectively a like-for-like replacement for Milne.”Lockie has bowled with pace, and with Milne not available through a series of injuries, Lockie was the obvious guy to step up,” he said. “He bowls consistently in the 140kph range, and clicks over 150 every now and then. There is some real gas to Lockie Ferguson. There’s an element of surprise and no batsman likes bowlers who are up at that pace.”De Grandhomme’s inclusion is no surprise, as his aggressive style of play had long made him a limited-overs international candidate. His seven wickets and quick runs in the Christchurch Test may merely have sealed his place – especially with Anderson continuing to struggle with a back injury. De Grandhomme’s only ODI for New Zealand came in March 2012 against South Africa.Astle, meanwhile, had had a muted Christchurch Test on a seam-friendly pitch, but had built up some domestic first-class form with hauls of 5 for 36 and 3 for 20 in his two previous matches. Sodhi has also had a good start to his domestic season, but had effectively bowled himself out of the ODI team in India, where he had been expensive. Astle is uncapped in ODIs having played two Tests and two T20Is so far.”Todd offers us good all-round balance – with the runs he can score lower down the order – but he’s primarily been picked as a legspinner,” Larsen said. “It’s important to add that Ish has been a little a little inconsistent, and he’s returning to Northern Districts and is working very hard on his game. Ish does remain very clearly in our plans for the future.”Ronchi’s three single-figure scores in India had also seen him exit the squad, though his output has been modest for much longer. In 25 ODI innings since the start of last year’s World Cup, Ronchi has hit 254 runs at an average of 11.04.”Luke remains on our radar, but we felt we wanted to give BJ Watling further ODI experience – Luke knows he was a bit shy of runs across the last year or so,” Larsen said. “BJ is a little more classical in his batsmanship. There are a lot of explosive players in the team. If you think about Henry Nicholls and the way that he plays – we think those two complement the overall batting of the team.”The Chappell-Hadlee series begins on December 4 in Sydney, before the action moves to Canberra, then Melbourne.

Allrounder slipped while running in backyard; Sean Abbott replaces him for England ODIs

Andrew McGlashan13-Nov-2022Glenn Maxwell has been ruled out of cricket for an extended period after suffering a broken leg in “a freak accident” at a birthday party in Melbourne on Saturday.Maxwell fractured his fibula and underwent surgery on Saturday. It is understood it happened as he slipped while running in a backyard with the person celebrating the birthday, and Maxwell’s leg became trapped, with neither person intoxicated.In the immediate future Maxwell is ruled out of the one-day series against England which starts on Thursday but he may also miss the entire BBL with Melbourne Stars, depending on the recovery timeline which will be known in the coming weeks. It would appear touch and go whether he will have recovered in time to be considered for the Test tour of India which starts in February 2023.The injury means Maxwell won’t have the chance to make a rare Sheffield Shield appearance in early December or feature for Australia A against South Africa.”Glenn is in good spirits,” national selector George Bailey said. “It was an unfortunate accident and we feel for Glenn in the circumstances given he was in great touch in his last few games. Glenn is a critical part of our white-ball structure and we will continue to support him through his recovery and rehabilitation.”Stars general manager Blair Crouch said: “Glenn is obviously a huge part of the Melbourne Stars and we wish him well in his recovery. He will continue to be a key part of the club during the start of the season as he works his way back to full fitness and we look forward to seeing him soon.”Sean Abbott will replace Maxwell in the squad to face England.Earlier this year England’s Jonny Bairstow suffered a badly broken ankle when he slipped playing golf and was ruled out for the remainder of the year. Australia wicketkeeper Josh Inglis missed the T20 World Cup after badly cutting his hand playing golf on the eve of the tournament.

George Balderson’s hundred chased down but Lancashire also qualify

ECB Reporters Network23-Aug-2022Kent 298 for 8 (Blake 81, Stewart 49, Stevens 49, Blatherwick 3-57) beat Lancashire 295 for 9 (Balderson 106*, Bohannon 75, Gilchrist 3-52, Podmore 3-53) by two wicketsA thrilling finish at Canterbury saw the Kent Spitfires qualify for the Royal London Cup play-offs with a two-wicket win over Lancashire, in Darren Stevens’ white-ball swansong at the Spitfire Ground.Kent were in deep trouble on 190 for six, but Harry Podmore hit Luke Wells’ penultimate ball for four to send Kent through to the knock-out stages, after a day of raw, unfiltered tension.Stevens hit 49 in his final List A innings at the St. Lawrence, but he was nearly upstaged by Lancashire’s George Balderson, who played a high-risk innings and was rewarded with an unbeaten 106 from 87 balls. Josh Bohannon was the visitors’ next highest-scorer with 75 as Lancashire recovered from 95 for five to post 295-9. Nathan Gilchrist claimed three for 52 and Harry Podmore three for 53.Alex Blake was Kent’s top scorer with 81 and his century stand with Stevens kept the Spitfires in contention before Podmore finished the job, with Kent closing on 298 for eight.Stevens, who is still hoping to prolong his career, but who has been waylaid this season by shoulder and calf injuries at the age of 46, said: “It’s sad times, it’s my last white-ball game at Kent, but it’s good to be out there. It’s just a shame I didn’t go on and win the game like I wanted to.”Kent now have a play-offs tie against Leicestershire – the county were it all began for him 26 years ago. “You couldn’t have written it could you? It’s a different challenge, a different place to play. We haven’t played white ball cricket there for a long time. We’ll do our work over the next couple of days to figure out how we’re going to play it.”Related

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The hosts needed to win to stand any chance of reaching the quarter-finals, while hoping Yorkshire lost to Hampshire. Lancashire, having already qualified, were trying to overhaul Hampshire at the top of the Group B table.Kent chose to field first and Grant Stewart made an early breakthrough when he had Luke Wells caught behind for a duck in the third over.
Gilchrist then bowled Keaton Jennings for 17 and had Steven Croft lbw for nought, but Bohannon and Dane Vilas put on 51 for the next wicket before Podmore removed the latter for 22 after a brilliant diving catch by Hamid Qadri at square leg.When Rob Jones charged at Qadri he was stumped by Ollie Robinson for nine, but Bohannon and Balderson rebuilt the innings as conditions improved.Their stand of 101 was ended when Bohannon skied Qadri to Gilchrist but George Lavelle maintained the momentum with 24 from 13 balls before he spooned Podmore to Alex Blake.Podmore then removed Danny Lamb, caught behind for eight, but Balderson reached three figures when he hooked Stewart for four in the penultimate over.Although Gilchrist subsequently bowled Tom Bailey for nine it was still Lancashire’s highest List A score against Kent and when Jack Blatherwick took two wickets in three balls the target looked a long way off.Ben Compton went for three in the third over of the chase when Lamb took a juggling catch at first slip off and Ollie Robinson lasted just two balls before Blatherwick had him caught behind for a duck.Joe Denly produced a couple of elegant fours but was lbw to Bailey for 13, before the same bowler had Joey Evison caught and bowled for 20. At 53 for four the stage was set for Stevens and with Alex Blake he hauled Kent back into contention as they put on 105 for the next wicket.Back in the year 2000 Stevens had played for Leicestershire against a Kent side that included Wells’ father Alan and he hit successive Wells Junior
deliveries for six before falling just short of his half-century, caught and bowled by Croft. He departed to a standing ovation and kissed his helmet before entering the pavilion.Blake then chipped Wells to Jennings, but Harry Finch and Grant Stewart hit back with a 73-run partnership.When Stewart hit Balderson for successive sixes Kent looked favourites, but he fell for 49, caught by Croft off Blatherwick, just as news filtered through that Yorkshire had lost.Podmore joined Finch and whittled away at the target, with every run cheered by the crowd of 2,101, to leave Kent needing three from the final over, but Finch hit Wells first delivery to Vilas.The next two were dots and Wells missed a difficult return catch as Qadri scrambled a single from the fourth, leaving Podmore to drive the winning boundary through the covers. Kent now have a quarter-final trip to Stevens’ home county Leicestershire.