In the Metro Bank One-Day Cup match at Derby, Jack Leaning’s unbeaten 81 from 117 balls helped Kent defeat Derbyshire by a thrilling three wicket margin.
At 106 for 6, trailing 207 and with Samit Patel taking 3 for 30, Kent looked certain to lose, but they were saved by Leaning and Grant Stewart’s 48 off of 39 balls.
After that, Leaning and Matt Parkinson added 33 from 43 balls, helping Kent reach 207 for 7 with 28 balls remaining.
With Parkinson taking 3 for 23, Brooke Guest scored 85 from 117 balls and shared an eighth wicket stand of 75 with Harry Moore, who scored a career-high 40. This put Derbyshire on 206.
On a worn pitch, Kent bowled admirably, and George Garrett made a late move to catch Harry Came off guard.
However, there were a few cheap dismissals, the first being Luis Reece, who was out in the seventh over after being struck straight from cover.
Grant Stewart was given a low return catch by David Lloyd, but Parkinson’s spell put Derbyshire behind the eight ball.
Parkinson enticed Anuj Dal and Guest into a huge drive that fell into the hands of long on, but Dal and Guest sprinted brilliantly, taking up quick singles and twos.
After Jas Singh was removed by Patel for the first six of the innings, Parkinson trapped him with a slower ball in the 25th over, which he drove to cover.
Derbyshire were 109 for 6 after Yousaf Bin Naeem was trapped leg before wicket. Guest’s 77 ball 50 kept his team in the game.
Garrett came back to bowl a late inswinger to Zak Chappell, but Moore gave Guest the encouragement he needed to give the hosts some credibility.
Before Moore rampaged and hit Jas Singh for three straight fours in the 44th over, the duo kept the scoreboard ticking over without taking any chances.
After Guest trapped Charlie Stobo to mid-wicket, his outstanding knock came to an end. In the 47th over, Moore was out due to a straight hit from cover at the non-striker’s end.
However, Moore struck when Marcus O’Riordan was caught behind down the leg side, giving the bowlers something to defend.
Joey Evison was dropped at first slip by Moore, and in the next over, Leaning hit him for four boundaries.
Daryn Dupavillon gave Derbyshire the motivation they needed when he made a spectacular one-handed diving catch off Patel at midfield to take out Evison for 32.
In his subsequent over, Patel struck once more as Jaydn Denley struggled to find space and eventually holed out, leaving Kent at 78 for 3.
When Harry Finch played a careless drive at Pat Brown, Derbyshire sensed an opening, and David Lloyd made no errors at slip this time.
With two more wickets falling in four overs, Kent was under increasing pressure and was beginning to crumble.
When Ekansh Singh cut Chappell to mid-wicket, Stobo attempted to work Patel through the leg side but was caught by a leading edge.
However, Leaning gave Kent hope as he scored 50 off 79 balls and helped his team get back into the game with Stewart.
When Stewart hoisted Chappell to fine leg, Moore made an incredible catch without pushing the ball over the line. Stewart had drawn Brown for two sixes and looked to be winning the match.
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However, Leaning smashed three fours off Moore and, along with Parkinson, guided his team to victory, denting Derbyshire’s hopes of qualifying and maintaining their slim hopes of reaching the knockout stages.
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