Warwickshire suffered their first defeat in the Clydesdale Bank 40 this season as Kent's bowlers and the weather combined to condemn them to a thumping 10-wicket reverse at Canterbury.
Rain interrupted the Warwickshire innings at 94 for seven after 26.3 overs, and after a restart at 8.41pm Kent - set 96 to win in 26 overs - cantered to victory under the St Lawrence Ground floodlights. The hosts needed just 16.3 overs, with young opener Sam Billings hitting a stylish maiden one-day half-century.
Billings, 21 in two weeks' time, drove and pulled the ball with high promise to reach the milestone in only 46 balls, with eight fours. He finished unbeaten on 58, from 54 balls, and stroked Keith Barker through extra cover for his ninth four just before hitting the winning run. At the other end, Kent skipper Rob Key remained 24 not out in Kent's 96 without loss.
It was an unfortunate way for Warwickshire to lose their 100% record, after three wins in as many games, but the Group C leaders were already in deep trouble when the rain came to drive the players off at 6.23pm.
Kent seamer Mark Davies undermined the innings after Warwickshire had chosen to bat with a brilliant new ball spell of 8-3-10-3, and then James Tredwell and Darren Stevens made further inroads as Rikki Clarke, Darren Maddy and Chris Woakes tried to stage a recovery from the depths of nine for four.
Clarke, with 39 from 56 balls, batted impressively and was joined in stands of 43 and 40 by Maddy and Woakes, who was 25 not out when the rain arrived. Maddy reached 18 before being bowled by Tredwell's third ball, in the 14th over, as he shaped to cut and was beaten by a ball which turned a long way back into him.
And when Clarke was bowled by a superb off-cutter from Stevens, which also seemed to stay a little low, and was followed back to the pavilion by Keith Barker - lbw for a third-ball duck in the next over from Tredwell - the Warwickshire innings was looking very sickly.
The explosive start to the game had earlier seen Varun Chopra depart in the second over, caught at the wicket by Geraint Jones trying to square cut a ball from Matt Coles. Then the accurate Davies struck in his second, third and fourth overs down the Nackington Road slope, accounting for Will Poterfield, Jim Troughton and Tim Ambrose.
After the initial eight-over powerplay, Warwickshire were on 16 for four, but Maddy lofted Azhar Mahmood straight for four, and then pulled him for another boundary and Clarke managed to hit Davies for the only boundary he conceded with a rasping pull which brought up Warwickshire's 50.
Woakes also played some fine strokes, including lofted drives for fours off both Tredwell and Stevens, but Kent's bowlers had tightened their grip again before the weather intervened. Based on the cricket played, the home side were well worth their second win in three games in this year's 40-over competition.
Copyright PA Sport 2012, All Rights Reserved
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Sussex wine served on Royal barge - The Argus.co.uk
Sussex wine served on Royal barge
10:37am Saturday 2nd June 2012 in News By Siobhan Ryan
Two English wines from Sussex feted as world beaters have been selected to be served on board the royal barge as it carries the Queen and her party down the River Thames tomorrow.
The wines are an award-winning sparkling and a still white.
Familiar to wine connoisseurs will be the Nyetimber Classic Cuvee 2007, from the award-winning West Chiltington -based producer regarded as one of England's leading names in sparkling wines.
The wine is produced from the three classic champagne varieties: chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot meunier, and is their latest vintage, released in time for the jubilee.
Also being served to the royal party will be a Stopham Pinot Blanc 2010, a dry wine produced from the pinot blanc grape from the producer's 16-acre vineyard near Pulborough The wines were selected by the caterers to the Royal barge, Spirit of Chartwell, with the help of Taurus Wines, an independent family-run wine merchant.
Owner Rupert Pritchett said: “These wines are world beaters, and it couldn't be more fitting to have some fine English wines on this very patriotic occasion."
Source: www.theargus.co.uk
Kent State beats Kentucky 7-6 in 21-inning marathon - Lexington Herald-Leader
GARY, Ind. — Alex Miklos ripped a two-out RBI triple in the top of the 21st inning and Kent State broke Kentucky's heart by beating the Cats 7-6 in the NCAA regional opener at U.S. Steel Yard.
The game was second-longest in NCAA Tournament history.
Texas won the longest game, 3-2 over Boston College, in 25 innings in 2009.
Kent State left 20 runners on base, and the Flashes struck out 26 times.
Kentucky stranded 23 and fanned 21 times.
The game took 6 hours, 37 minutes, with Kent State outhitting the Cats 20-18.
Three UK pitchers had six strikeouts each, and A.J. Reed fanned eight over the last nine innings in relief.
UK catcher Michael Williams had 28 putouts.
Joe Koch led off the Kent 21st with an infield single.
A sacrifice bunt and strikeout later, Miklos swatted a triple over the head of center fielder Austin Cousino.
While third-seeded Kent (42-17) extended the nation's longest winning streak to 18 games, second-seeded UK (43-17) remains one game shy of matching the school record for wins in a season. UK won 44 games in 2006 and again in 2008.
Just as in those seasons, the Wildcats dropped their opener in NCAA regional play. Both years, they went on to win twice in the double-elimination tournament before losing in the finals.
UK (43-17), ranked 11th in the nation, will play in an elimination game Saturday at 4 p.m. against the loser of Friday's late game between No. 1 seed Purdue and No. 4 Valparaiso.
Left-hander Jerad Grundy (5-3) is expected to start for the Cats.
No. 25 Kent State, the Mid-American Conference champion and playing in its fourth consecutive NCAA, will face the Purdue-Valparaiso winner at 8 p.m.
Kent State took a 1-0 lead in a second inning that could have been much worse.
George Roberts, who finished with five hits, led off with a single. Then, with an 0-2 count, UK lefty Taylor Rogers plunked T.J. Sutton.
Nick Hamilton's sharp single to left filled the bases with none out.
Shortstop Matt Reida bobbled a potential double-play ball, with Roberts scoring and all hands safe.
Rogers buckled down, though, to strike out Alex Miklos and Derek Toadvine. Campbell became the third out on a soft liner to third.
Rogers stranded two more in the third, and the Wildcats rallied to take a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the inning.
With one out, Cousino was hit by a pitch. He moved to second on Thomas McCarthy's single.
With the runners in motion, Luke Maile knocked an RBI single to short right.
McCarthy scored on Reed's groundout.
Kent State batted around in the fourth, scoring three times to take a 4-2 lead.
Again, though, the Flashes left the bases loaded.
Two singles and a walk loaded the bases.
Rogers balked in a run, and Jimmy Rider singled in one.
With two out and two on, Alex Phillips came on in relief.
Roberts greeted him with an RBI bloop double down the left-field line.
UK pulled to within 4-3 with a run in the fifth.
Maile reached on a one-out single, then advanced to third on Michael Williams' double.
Maile scored on a wild pitch by Kent starter David Starn.
Rider's one-out single in the Kent eighth was followed by David Lyon's walk.
That ended Phillips' stint.
Roberts welcomed Tim Peterson with a run-scoring single to right-center.
The Cats averted further damage with an unusual inning-ending double play. A grounder to first led to a rundown between third and the plate for one out, and a putout at third on the runner trying to advance to third.
Cousino led off the UK ninth with a single, and McCarthy bunted him to second.
Maile ripped a single up the middle. The ball hit the second-base bag and bounded into right-center as Cousino came around to score.
The Cats threatened in the 10th, putting runners on second and third with one out.
Lucas Witt reached on a throwing error. He took third on one of Zac Zellers' five hits, a single. Zellers took second on the throw to third.
Steven Hoagland, 1-for-3 on the season, put down a suicide squeeze that failed, and Cousino took a called third strike.
Williams came just a couple feet short of winning it with a leadoff homer in the 12th. Instead, he pulled up with an apparent double.
Kent State appealed that Williams had missed first base, and umpire Adam Dowdy agreed, calling him out.
UK left the bases loaded in the 15th.
Kent State took a 6-5 lead in the 18th.
Joe Koch beat out a two-out infield single, allowing Campbell, who led off the inning with a single, to score from third.
With one out in the bottom of the 18th, McConkey twice missed a homer down the right-field line, each ball hooking inches foul.
He eventually walked, then took third on Reed's single.
Williams brought McConkey home with a double to deep center. Reed, though, was easily cut down at the plate.
A single, walk and hit batsman loaded the bases with Cats in the 20th.
But J.T. Riddle hit a comebacker to the mound, and was erased on a 1-2-3 double play.
Source: www.kentucky.com
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