Kent Spitfires v Essex Eagles
Royal London One-Day Cup
The Spitfire Ground, Canterbury
Kent Spitfires | Daniel Bell-Drummond, Zak Crawley, Sam Northeast (c), Adam Ball, Alex Blake, Calum Haggett, Adam Rouse (wk), Charlie Hartley, Imran Qayyum, Ivan Thomas.
Essex Eagles | Alastair Cook, Varun Chopra, Tom Westley, Dan Lawrence, Ashar Zaidi, Ravi Bopara, Ryan ten Doeschate (c), James Foster (wk), Simon Harmer, Neil Wagner, Jamie Porter.
Umpires | Stephen Gale & Nigel Cowley.
Toss | Kent Spitfires who elected to field.
Result | Essex Eagles won by 57 runs (D/L Method)
Post-Match Reflection | Ryan ten Doeschate
Close of Play Report | Essex Eagles reeled off a seventh victory in eight Royal London One-Day Cup matches when they beat Kent Spitfires by 57 runs under the Duckworth/Lewis method.
The Eagles had posted 307 for 6 after skipper Ryan ten Doeschate lost the toss for the seventh time in the competition this season but his side batted with authority and good sense to post their fourth total of 300 plus in 50-overs cricket this year.
The win ensured that Essex Eagles finished three points clear at the top of the South Group to set up a home semi-final with either Somerset or Nottinghamshire.
Varun Chopra top-scored with 83, Alastair Cook contributed his fifth half-century in the competition this season – two of which he turned into hundreds. Ravi Bopara contributed 49 whilst Dan Lawrence and Tom Westley scored thirties.
Openers Chopra and Cook put on 95 in 19 overs before being parted when Cook was dismissed for 54 having reached a run-a-ball half-century that included 8 boundaries.
Chopra continued to play stylishly and with excellent timing. His half-century arrived for 76 balls with 7 fours and he had added four more boundaries to his tally before he was dismissed when he chopped the ball onto his stumps.
Westley made 35 in a second wicket stand worth 73 whilst Bopara and Lawrence added 62 in 9 overs before Lawrence went for 32 but Bopara continued in fine manner.
Picking off the bowling with contemptuous ease, he drove and cut cleanly and the only surprise was his downfall when within one run of his half-century.
He had been joined by Ashar Zaidi in a stand that raised the temp further with 38 in four overs before Ryan ten Doeschate and James Foster were left to hoist the total above and beyond 300 in the final pickings.
Rain had been predicted to arrive at 6.30pm and duly arrived on schedule but The Eagles had been in total control by the time the umpires called off proceedings with Kent having slid to 50 for 3 at the end of 11 overs.
Ashar Zaidi took two wickets, the first in his first over when he removed Sam Northeast for 3 whose intended slog cost him his middle stump. Then in his next over, Sean Dickson went back and was leg before wicket for 3 to leave the Spitfires 32 for 3 from 9.5 overs.
Jamie Porter had made the breakthrough with only 11 on the board when he had Zak Crawley superbly picked up low down on the deep mid-wicket boundary by Chopra.
Rain was already falling when Alex Blake struck the final ball of the over to the boundary but with 10 overs now bowled, a positive result was guaranteed.
Simon Harmer conceded three boundaries in his next over but by the final ball of the over, rain was falling heavily to conclude the match.
1st Innings Report | Essex Eagles posted another substantial total in the Royal London One-Day Cup campaign when they closed the innings on 307 for 6 against Kent Spitfires at Canterbury in their final Group match. Varun Chopra top-scored with 83 whilst Alastair Cook posted another half-century with useful contributions from elsewhere in the order.
Needing only one point to be guaranteed a home semi-final draw, the Eagles received the news shortly before the conclusion of their innings that Somerset’s game at Lord’s had been abandoned to leave The Eagles with a place in the last four, and thus a tie against either Somerset or Notts Outlaws.
For the fourth time in the competition this year, the Eagles scored 300 plus to ensure that their opponents would have a demanding target to chase down. Runs flowed from the Essex batsmen starting with an opening partnership of 92 between Chopra and Cook before the latter was dismissed in the 19th over.
He had just reached a run-a-ball half-century with the assistance of 8 boundaries when, four runs later, he attempted to cut a ball from spinner Imran Qayyum and edged a catch to wicket-keeper Adam Rouse.
It took the left-hander’s tally of runs in the competition to 503 for the season at an average of 71.85.
Chopra continued to demonstrate sweetly-timed drives on either side of the wicket to reach a 76-ball fifty that embraced 7 fours. He was joined by Tom Westley in a stand worth 73 in 12 overs as the visitors maintained a good run-rate but with the opener appearing set for his second hundred of the competition this year, he chopped a ball from spinner Qayyum onto his stumps.
Westley went three overs later, the 34th of the innings, for 35 with the total on 183 but Dan Lawrence and Ravi Bopara added brisk runs for the fourth wicket.
Neither appeared in any trouble as they drove the ball with authority. Both cleared the boundary when facing Qayyum but having swelled the total by 62 runs in 9 overs, their entertaining stand came to an end when Ivan Thomas encouraged Lawrence, on 32, to drive to mid-off.
A cameo innings form Ashar Zaidi – 22 from 19 balls with 3 fours – maintained the tempo as he joined Bopara putting on 38 in 4 overs to take the score to 283 before he departed in the 47th over.
Bopara was within one run of his half-century when he drove to gully to end an innings that included two sixes but no other boundaries from the 40 balls he faced.
His dismissal left Ryan ten Doeschate and James Foster 13 deliveries and they soon added the 11 runs required to bring up the 300. Ten Doeschate included a 6 in his unbeaten 14 whist Foster was 6 not out at the close of the innings.
