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Yorkshire attack wide of the mark

Kent (179-7) bt Yorks (178-8) by 3 wkts

A third successive limited overs defeat is hardly the best preparation for Yorkshire's two one-day cup games this week, against Lancashire in the quarter-finals of the NatWest Trophy on Wednesday and the Benson and Hedges Super Cup final against Gloucestershire at Lord's next Sunday.

They were further handicapped by a back strain which prevented Gavin Hamilton, their excellent all-rounder, from bowling and the attack did not apply appropriate pressure until after Kent had seized the initiative.

Too much width and too short a length allowed Kent to get off to a flyer, Will House picking up seven boundaries in an initial assault which brought 48 in 10 overs. There were a few alarms but Mark Ealham supervised the Kent tail with great skill to make the 179 target look modest.

Chris Silverwood and Paul Hutchinson, playing his first game of the season after back trouble, did not perform well in their first spells but were much better when they returned.

Robert Key played over a full ball from Ryan Sidebottom then Craig White put the brake on when House played down the wrong line, Trevor Ward edged a quicker delivery and Andrew Symonds was beaten off the pitch.

Nigel Llong hit Michael Vaughan over long on for six before Hutchison had the left-hander well held by the diving Vaughan at short mid-wicket and Silverwood, whose first three overs cost 15 runs, held a sharp return catch to account for Matthew Fleming.

There was only one more scare - when Steve Marsh skied a catch with 14 wanted - but Kent were home with 14 balls to spare.

Choosing to bat first, Yorkshire made a terrible mess of it as Julian Thompson exploited a suspect pitch beautifully with excellent control of line and length. His nine over spell, bowled in one burst, brought the wickets of David Byas (leg before), Greg Blewett (caught at slip attempting to run it to third man) and Vaughan (caught by the wicketkeeper standing up), at a cost of only 16 runs.

When White lost his off pole to Ealham, the 7,000 crowd were less than pleased, but as the ale flowed so did the runs and Anthony McGrath and Richard Harden added 94 in 24 overs to at least make a match of it.

Harden's best score in the competition for his new county contained only two boundaries but his partner drove Min Patel over long off and pulled Martin McCague over mid-wicket for sixes. Harden chipped to short mid-wicket, McGrath gave a return catch and it was left to Hamilton to up the rate with 27 from only 23 balls.