Date-stamped : 12 Aug97 - 10:30
AXA Life League: Kent can dream of double

By Geoffrey Dean at Canterbury

Kent (223-7) bt Essex (106) by 117 runs

KENT`S   fifth   successive   Sunday League win over Essex lifted
them into second place in the table and gives them  every  chance
of  a  championship and Axa Life League  double.  It  was  enough
to leave a 7,000 crowd noisily celebrating the end  of  a  highly
successful Canterbury Week.

For  their  victory,  Kent owe much to Graham Cowdrey for his ex-
pertly judged  80  off 79 balls and his superb low catch at  deep
mid-  off to dismiss Stuart Law. That was a body-blow for  Essex,
as  was Ronnie Irani`s  run  out  without  facing  a  ball.  They
never  recovered against tight bowling and out-cricket, and at 60
for six in  the  15th over, the game was up.

Kent, whose Trevor Ward reached 4,000  Sunday  League  runs,  had
themselves   started  badly,  slipping to 52 for four in the 14th
over.  Irani, who got his in-swinger going well, was chiefly  re-
spon- sible with a fine spell of 4-2-3-2.

Cowdrey   and   Mark  Ealham (who hit 50 off 69 balls) skilfully,
and at times powerfully, relaid the foundations  of  the  innings
with  a  stand  of   89 in 16 overs. Crucially, a stumping chance
given by Cow- drey when 21 off Peter Such was missed.

It was a typical Cowdrey one-day   innings,   full   of  thumping
blows through  extra  cover,  often  after he had made room. That
he scored only 42 in boundaries (one being  a  straight  six  off
Such)  but  still managed to  score  at quicker than a-run-a-ball
underlined how well he worked the ball for ones and twos.

Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/)

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