Kent 165 for 5 (Muyeye 73), lost to Essex 187 for 3 (Walter 46*) by a margin of 22 runs.
After missing out on game action, Sam Cook made a comeback to anchor Essex’s 22-run triumph over ‘Battle of the Bridge’ rivals Kent Spitfires, securing the Eagles’ spot in the Vitality Blast quarterfinals.
Despite Tawanda Muyeye’s T20 record of 73, Essex defended 187 thanks to fast bowler Cook, who returned from a 49-day layoff due to a hamstring injury to take one for 21.
Paul Walter stood out with an undefeated 46, but Adam Rossington, Dean Elgar, Michael Pepper, and Matt Critchley were all over 30 as the Eagles amassed a formidable score.
At the Cloud County Ground in Chelmsford, the team batting first had only won one of the previous 11 games. This victory broke the trend and kept Essex in the top four, while Kent remained at the bottom.
After becoming trapped in, the Essex batting innings went through three phases of volatility.
They had the upper hand in the powerplay as Adam Rossington misplayed for 36 and Elgar amassed a respectable 50 runs in the first six overs.
Rossington hit the final ball of the powerplay to mid-on, but Pepper was too strong, hitting three straight fours off Joey Evison before going on a four-six combination to take out Matt Parkinson.
But Kent pulled back with Elgar holing out too long in the 12th over. Five deliveries later, a 31-ball stretch without a boundary had begun. Pepper had also been caught for a 20-ball 34 at deep midwicket.
Parkinson claimed both of those wickets as seamers at the other end supported him and he discovered a small amount of grip to cause problems.
However, the Eagles soured to a respectable goal after his four overs, two for 29, with Walter and Critchley collecting 67 from the last five overs. All of them featured a six, along with a tonne of deft field manipulation.
Cook made his first appearance on the Blast of the year following his return from a hamstring injury sustained during the Vitality County Championship match against Kent in May. He began the match with just a single off his first over.
Eathan Bosch, making his T20 debut for Essex, got off to an equally impressive start, swatting Daniel Bell-Drummond for a wide in his first over, but the Spitfires took the lead with his second, which went for 24.
It served as the centrepiece of the 85-run partnership between Muyeye and Marcus O’Riordan, which closely adhered to the needed rate.
Muyeye, a Zimbabwean native, reached his fourth T20 fifty with ease in just 34 balls.
However, Essex quickly reopened the door when O’Riordan was cleanly bowled by Snater, Sam Billings sliced Simon Harmer to provide cover, and Muyeye also went back to Snater. It was evident that Snater had put the Dutch’s suffering behind them.
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With Jack Leaning cutting to extra cover, the visitors entirely lost their bearings, and only 53 runs were scored in the final eight overs.
The final two overs need to score 36 runs to win, which Walter and Cook easily achieved.
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