The Sussex Sharks thrashed the Kent Spitfires by 88 runs in the T20 Vitality Blast at Canterbury this evening (Friday 12 July).
The Sharks have one foot in the quarter-finals after recovering from 64-4 to post 203-4 thanks to an unbroken stand of 139 between Tom Alsop and John Simpson.
The hosts’ hopes had soared after Jas Singh took two wickets in three balls but Alsop hammered Kent with 87 from just 41 deliveries, while Simpson played the anchor role with 53 from 39.
Tawanda Muyeye hit an elegant 45 from 25 balls but James Coles took four for 12 as the Spitfires wilted in the face of an ever-steepening run rate, collapsing to 115 all out with 3.4 overs remaining.
It was a demoralising evening for the Spitfires who squandered yet another promising position and remain rock-bottom of the South Group.
Their decision to field looked suspect when Marcus O’Riordan’s first over went for 17, all of which were scored by Harrison Ward.
Singh, however, changed the outlook, bowling Ward leg stump and getting Tom Clark caught by Jack Leaning at mid-off for a second ball duck.
Tom Rogers clean-bowled Coles for 14 and Nathan Gilchrist then removed Daniel Hughes for 16, victim of a staggering overhead catch by Sam Billings.
It was as bright a spell as Kent have enjoyed in the Blast all season but from 64-4 Alsop joined Simpson to stabilise Sussex before they mounted an all-out assault in the dying overs.
They were 79-4 after 10 overs and 151-4 after 15, giving them a platform to launch an assault in the final five.
Kent missed the cut-off by a minute and with an extra fielder in, Joey Evison’s 20th over went for 21 as Kent’s fielding, so tight for the first half of the innings, went to pieces, with catches dropped, run outs missed and the body language betraying a team whose morale is in freefall.
After hitting a career-high 73 at Essex on Thursday night, Muyeye got off to an explosive start but he lost his opening partner Daniel Bell-Drummond for two when he was lbw to Ollie Robinson.
Brad Currie then removed O’Riordan for a three-ball four, caught by Nathan McAndrew at mid-wicket.
The run rate did for a succession of batters. Muyeye played some wonderful strokes but perished when he flicked Coles to Currie on the square leg boundary.
Feroze Khushi skied Jack Carson to McAndrew for 22, Sam Billings was bowled by Coles for 14 from seven and Joey Evison dragged an Ollie Robinson bouncer onto this stumps and was bowled for six.
Coles took two wickets in four balls in the 14th, bowled Rogers for one and Gilchrist for a duck.
Jack Leaning straight-drove Currie to the boundary where he was caught by when Ward threw the ball to Alsop before going over the rope and the rout was confirmed when Singh chipped Carson to Hughes.
