Date-stamped : 28 May97 - 06:17 Cowdrey makes the difference By Christopher Martin-Jenkins at Canterbury Kent (306-6) bt Warwicks (304) by 4 wks TWO buccaneering innings on a belter of a St Lawrence pitch made this only the ninth match in 26 seasons of Benson and Hedges Cup cricket to have exceeded 600 runs. It was won by Kent by four wickets with three balls to spare as they successfully assailed a formidable target of 305 to win. Neil Smith battered 125 off 119 balls for Warwickshire; Matthew Walker 117 off exactly the same number for Kent. Neither deserved to be on a losing side and it would be hard to say which of them hit the ball harder, but neither did so more fiercely than Graham Cowdrey, who is celebrating his benefit season by playing some of the most confident and effective cricket of his career. Coming in at 245 for five, with only eight overs left and 60 needed, he had no time to play himself in. The third and least sung of the Cowdrey cricketing dynasty is as robust as a tank, and the paternal blood beats strongly through his veins on major occasions like this. Where Colin stroked it with a light bat, Graham strikes it with a heavy one and the force of a kicking mule. There is no room for compromises in hectic finishes and in 26 balls, assisted at first by Mark Ealham, he bludgeoned Kent to a victory they had confidently expected. He hit four fours and a six and survived a stumping chance off Smith the ball before he struck the winning four a few feet past the lime tree at straight mid- wicket. Kent have lost only one limited-overs match this season but their win yesterday was helped significantly by the fact that Allan Donald bowled four legside wides, three of them going for four, in his two overs, before walking off with a strained muscle in the side of his back. Nor was Keith Piper at his best, suffering from an Achilles heel injury; but Kent`s victory was all the sweeter for them after the contentious quarter-final three years ago when they lost in a bowl-out because Edgbaston had been deemed unfit for play. This was the second instance in two seasons of Warwickshire scoring more than 300 in this competition but narrowly failing to win. No fewer than five of these huge match aggregates have come since last year, when the number of overs was reduced from 55 to 50. It shows what a difference the greater restrictions on field placings in the first 15 overs have made, and perhaps what an influence Sri Lanka`s approach in the last World Cup had on one-day cricket under these rules everywhere. Yesterday Warwickshire scored 104 for three in their first 15 overs; Kent replied with 87 for one. Warwickshire had chosen, reasonably enough, to make first use of Brian Fitch`s bountiful pitch and their aggressive approach did not alter when Martin McCague cut a ball back through Nick Knight`s forward stroke in the first over. The sturdy Smith, watched with approval by his father, M J K, was soon square-cutting and straight-driving with great power and Dougie Brown hit the ball to the same areas with no less force for 28 off 20 balls before Matthew Fleming, never to be underestimated, cut a ball back to hit his middle stump. Dominic Ostler then helped Smith plot the course for 300. They added 103 in 21 overs, taking toll of everyone, not least Dean Headley, who had risked a minor back strain to play. By the time that Smith skied Ealham to midwicket he had hit 13 fours and three sixes. The similarity of Walker`s admirable counter-attack was striking. He, too, was out in the 42nd over; he, too, hit three sixes and faced 119 balls; and he, too, was dropped. Whereas Smith, however, had been missed when 51 in the 14th over - a tricky chance to Alan Wells at slip - Walker has made only seven when Sheikh, the substitute for Donald, missed a scoop to square-leg. Driving and pulling with relish, as he had when making his 275 not out here last August, Walker had good support from Nigel Llong, though Gladstone Small beat him frequently before yorking him in the 28th over. If everyone had bowled as well as Small, Kent would not have prevailed. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)