Sussex Sharks 197-6 (20 overs)
Kent Spitfires 199-3 (18.2 overs)
Kent beat Sussex by 7 wickets
A wonderful 75 by Zak Crawley helped the Kent Spitfires to a seven-wicket win over Sussex in a high-scoring, if controversial, Vitality Blast game at Canterbury.
Crawley was on 53 when Sussex’s Tom Clark claimed he’d caught him off Tymal Mills in the 17th. Crawley refused to walk, was given not out by the umpires and then hit three sixes in the 18th over to take Kent to the brink of victory.
Clark had earlier made a blistering 79 from 29 deliveries, including six sixes and nine fours, but after racing to 122 for one at halfway, Sussex slowed drastically in the second half of the innings, with South African all-rounder Dian Forrester took 3-25 on his Kent debut. Forrester then sealed a stellar debut by hitting the winning runs with 10 balls to spare, creaming Mills for four.
The visitors had made a stunning start after choosing to bat: Clark hit 22 off the fourth over, from Matt Milnes, and reached 50 off just 20 deliveries. Tom Rogers’ sixth over went for 30, leaving Sussex on 92 without loss at the end of the powerplay.
Kent’s other debutant, Bertie Foreman, struck when Clark pulled him to Tawanda Muyeye on the midwicket boundary and Forrester, claimed a wicket with his third delivery when Daniel Hughes drove him to Daniel Bell-Drummond at extra cover for 26.
Forrester’s next over was a double-wicket maiden. He got John Simpson for four, when he chipped him to Joe Denly, before he caught and bowled Tom Alsop off the next ball.
Jack Leaning blocked the hat-trick ball, but Sussex slowed to 149 for four after 15.
Milnes then got James Coles for 28, caught at backward square by Jake Lintott.
Danny Lamb did some damage in the 19th, hitting Fred Klaassen for 17 from the first four balls, but after taking a single from the fifth, Leaning pulled Klaassen to Muyeye at midwicket and was caught for 30. And when Milnes limited Sussex to just four off the last over it felt like the hosts had given themselves a chance.
They suffered a blow when Muyeye fell for 26 at the end of the fourth, caught and bowled by Henry Crocombe.
Daniel Bell-Drummond was on 27 when he was hit on the shoulder by a violent Crawley drive and although he was cleared to continue, he’d added just two more when he miscued Danny Briggs to Tymal Mills at backward point.
Crawley rode his luck at times. Simpson missed the chance to stump him off Lamb when he was on nine but Fynn Hudson-Prentice then got Sam Billings for 28, miscuing him to Lamb.
Alsop palmed a difficult chance to catch Crawley over the boundary for six when he was on 42 and he took a single from Briggs to pass 50.
Kent needed 40 from the last four but controversy flared in the 17th when Crawley pulled Mills to Clark at midwicket. Sussex claimed the catch but Crawley, who was on 53, stood his ground and the umpires gave him the benefit of the doubt.
He was booed by Sussex supporters when he then smashed Lamb back over his head for six, but any abuse was drowned out by cheers when he then smashed Lamb over cow corner for another maximum, before hitting him for another six straight back over his head.
Suddenly Kent only needed two from the last two overs and Forrester obliged by pulling Mills through for four.
Forrester said afterwards: “I loved every moment of it. The fans were amazing … and it was great win for the team.
“Clark played very, very well. But Sam kept telling us it’s a good wicket and to stay in it. Luckily, I think Jake (Lintott) bowled very, very well there in the middle and brought it back nicely for us.”
On his double-wicket maiden, Forrester said: “It’s always nice contributing. That’s the benefit of being an all-rounder. I love it. So, yeah, it was a good little momentum switch there. I don’t think I’ve bowled a lot of double wicket maidens in T20s before.
On batting with Crawley, he said: “It was awesome. Obviously, I watched him a lot on TV playing test match cricket.
“To be out there with him was so nice. And it just shows you the composure he has and all the experience he has from playing at the top level.”
Sussex captain Tymal Mills said: “I’m very disappointed after the start we got off to in the powerplay.
“Tom Clark batted outstandingly. That was some of the best striking that I’ve seen in a long time. To be 90 off of the powerplay, you should go on to win most games – so it was disappointing.
“I actually thought we did well to get 197 in the end, considering they bowled well at the middle and back end. It was important that we didn’t collapse.
“We lost a couple of wickets and on another day we could have maybe finished on 170, 180, so to get the score we did, we were happy at half time.
“On a used pitch, the feedback was that it was slow and cutters were successful, so at half time we were happy and then I thought we bowled okay in the powerplay.
“We could have had a little bit of luck. James Coles, I thought, bowled well, but we just bowled too many bad balls, myself included, so it was frustrating
“There were some good shots in there as well, which is obviously allowed – Crawley, Billings and Forrester in particular batted well – but, yeah, it’s a game we should have won.”
On the Crawley catch, Mills said: “It was out. I looked at the replay. It shows it was out. Tom Clark clearly said it was out and the umpire’s message to me was if there’s any doubt then that goes the way of the batter.
“I’ll get some clarification about that when I go speak to the match ref in a minute but, regardless, I don’t know if it would have made a huge difference in the game.
“You never know of course, Crawley hit a few sixes after that (but) we didn’t lose the game solely because of that one decision. It’s for the umpires to make the decisions.
“Crawley thought that Clark didn’t catch it. Clark said he did catch it and the umpires made their decision so it’s nothing on Zak. It’s down to the umpires.
“I’ve had a look at it and it’s clearly out but, yeah, we’ll move on. It’s not the reason we lost the game. We did a lot of things poorly today outside of that moment.”
