Date-stamped : 18 May95 - 10:27
Benson and Hedges Cup Round 5 : Sussex v Kent
Hove, 16, 17 May 1995

Benson best lifts Kent - D. J. Rutnagur

Kent (307-2) bt Sussex (303-6) by 8 wkts

CAPTAIN Mark Benson struck a superb 119 -  his  best  Benson  and
Hedges  Cup  score  - as Kent secured their place in the quarter-
finals by beating Sussex with 17 balls to spare.

Kent resumed on 31 without loss in  a  match  carried  over  from
Tuesday and only further rain threatened to deprive them of their
fourth successive group victory.

But after Benson and Trevor Ward (76) put on 147  for  the  first
wicket  -  their fourth three-figure stand in four matches in the
competition this season - the  marginal  acceleration needed   to
overhaul Sussex was comfortably achieved.

Benson and the young left-hander, Matthew Walker, winner  of  The
Daily  Telegraph  under-15  batting  award  in  1989  and England
Under-19s` captain two years ago, took Kent to within 19 runs  of
their  objective and the flailing bat of Aravinda de Silva closed
the gap.

Kent`s priority had been to reach a score of  165  and  guarantee
themselves  leadership  of  the  group  and earn the advantage of
playing their quarter-final at home.

With Benson and Ward so firmly entrenched after a delayed  start,
Sussex`s salvation lay in the weather intervening again.

On a delightful batting pitch, the Sussex attack offered no chal-
lenge.  Ward,  who  hit nine fours, drove with authority and used
the reverse sweep to great profit.

Just before Ward departed, caught at long  leg  hooking  Franklyn
Stephenson, Kent were ahead on the run-rate but his dismissal and
the deterioration in conditions pegged them back, leaving them to
score 132 from the last 20 overs.

Momentum was restored by a furious assault on the spinners, Keith
Greenfield and Ian Salisbury, by Walker, remarkably confident and
audacious for one of his limited experience. He hit  three  fours
and a six in the space of two overs and this interlude of aggres-
sion, more than the size of his contribution, 69 not out,  earned
him the Gold Award.

Defeat meant elimination from the competition for Sussex as their
run-rate suffered in comparison with that of Somerset and Surrey,
with whom they finished level on points.

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