16 Jul 2015 | Cricket
Momentum and continuity will be the bywords for south group leaders Kent when they welcome Glamorgan to the Royal Spa Town of Tunbridge Wells for Friday's NatWest T20 Blast clash.
With their quarter final berth already secured, the Spitfires will be keen to extend their five-match unbeaten run against their Welsh visitors, who come arrive for only a third appearance at The Nevill ground still harbour outside hopes of reaching the knock-out stages themselves.
Kent's top order batter Sam Northeast will need another big score if he is to overcome Gloucestershire's Michael Klinger as the tournament's top-scorer, but the Spitfires' skipper will also be looking to add to his haul of 64 fours - the most by any batsman in the 2015 Blast.
Spitfires' firepower last time out, in the their three-wicket win over Gloucestershire, came from Alex Blake who plundered an unbeaten 59 from 24 balls, and the muscular left-hander will be hoping to dish out similar punishment to the Glamorgan attack at the leafy Nevill ground.
Tunbridge Wells is a little like Cheltenham, it's another compact out-ground, with short straight boundaries and, once the ball pierces through the infield you're usually rewarded with a boundary. So I'm hoping we can provide some more fireworks for the Kent fans, said the 26-year-old from Beckenham.
I was so pleased to see us over the win line against Gloucestershire last weekend because it could have gone either way when I went in to bat. Sam departed soon after I went in, so it was up to me to get the job done. I'm delighted I managed to pull it off.
On these smaller club grounds you never really know what a defendable target is, anything can seem possible sometimes, but in this format we've got good skills and a lot of confidence behind us off the back of our nine wins. So, while we'll respect Glamorgan, we can continue to play without fear.
Kent have added a new name to their match-day squad after signing 23-year-old East Anglian Premier League batsman, Sean Dickinson, on a season's contract after a string of impressive 2nd XI knocks. South African-born with a mother from Kent, the right-hander holds a UK passport and is therefore not considered an overseas player.
Kent will go into the game, which starts at 5.30pm, knowing they have never lost to Glamorgan in this format. The teams have met on five previous occasions, Kent have won four, while Glamorgan have managed only one a tie.
Kent from: Bell-Drummond, Denly, Northeast, Billings, Stevens, Cowdrey, Blake, Coles, Haggett, Claydon, Tredwell, Hunn, Dickson, Ball.
Glamorgan from: Rudolph, Ingram, Donald, Wright, Cooke, Meschede, Wagg, Wallace, Lloyd, Salter, Cosker, Hogan.