Sussex sneak win as lights fail
Dwayne Smith hit a superb unbeaten 69 to help Sussex to a competitive score
Floodlight failure and a canny over of off-spin from Michael Yardy robbed Kent of a probable win at Hove and gifted Sussex a two-run victory under the Duckworth-Lewis method when bad light forced the abandonment of the match 11 overs into the second innings.
Kent fell behind the asking rate for only the second time in the 11th over of their reply when home skipper Yardy conceded two runs from his fourth over from the Sea End.
With his team’s noses in front, Yardy called up Robin Martin-Jenkins to bowl from the gloomy Cromwell Road End.
The switch to pace forced umpires Vanburn Holder and Rob Bailey to consult over player safety and they duly took the teams off the field just after 9.15pm to seal a shock Sussex win with nine overs of the game remaining.
Kent were 61 without loss in reply to the hosts’ 131 for three, with Joe Denly unbeaten on 32 and Darren Stevens on 27 not out.
The umpires had been informed by ground officials 40 minutes before the scheduled start that the four floodlight pylons at the north end of the ground were unlikely to work.
With the likelihood of a shortened game, Kent’s acting captain Martin van Jaarsveld elected to field first after winning the toss thinking that, with all wickets in hand for a short run-chase, the odds would be stacked on the Spitfires’ side.
It was an unbeaten 69 from 59 balls by West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Smith that papered over the cracks of a Sussex innings which initially threatened to fall apart after the loss of Murray Goodwin (one) to the seventh ball of the game.
Leaning back to cut a Robbie Joseph long-hop, Goodwin picked out Stevens at short cover who took a sharp, shoulder-high catch to his left.
Rory Hamilton-Brown threatened to cut loose and hit two lusty fours in his 15 but, hemmed in by three dot balls from the excellent Simon Cook, he danced down the track to be stumped by Geraint Jones.
Smith, who was dropped on one and 44, joined up with Ed Joyce to add 37 in seven overs for the third wicket, but Joyce struggled for his timing on a dead surface being used for the third time this season.
The former Middlesex man managed to connect with two sweep shots which went for four, but in attempting a third slog-sweep he picked out Justin Kemp at deep square leg to gift Stevens a wicket.
Cook, who bowled the only maiden of the innings, went for 11 off his fourth and final over yet still finished with 1-18, while Smith and Yardy saw it through in adding 68 off 51 balls for the fourth wicket.
