When Keaton Jennings (72) and Steven Croft (72) were in full flow, Lancashire looked to be a potential winner. But after the dismissal of Croft, the team could not keep up and were all out after scoring 285 runs.
This was in stark contrast to Lancashire’s own failure to field and take chances as Kent posted their fifth 300-plus total in nine matches in this season’s competition.
Darren Stevens, almost certainly playing his final game for Kent at age 46, scored an unbeaten 33 and bowled eight overs for 44. But when Kent took the win, he was off the field with a groin injury and won to end his unwanted streak of eight consecutive List A Final losses.
While there was a change from Lord’s to Trent Bridge to end Kent’s losing streak, Lancashire have not won a List A trophy since 1998. And, after the T20 Blast loss to Hampshire at Edgbaston in July, it brought a bad end to an already bad situation. The week, in which his six-point docking for repeated on-field disciplinary mistakes also effectively ended his County Championship bid.
Tom Bailey dismissed left-hander Ben Compton on only the fourth ball of the match. But Kent came back well, as Ollie Robinson came on to help Avison share the stand of 78.
The partnership ended when Liam Hurt took the crucial wicket of Robinson. Either way, it mattered little as captain Joe Denly shared a 133-run stand with Avison in 20 overs.
But Evison missed a ton when he was bowled by Danny Lamb, Hurt bowled Denly, Alex Blake dismissed a Rob Jones/Keaton Jennings relay catch at long on, and a run-out mix-up with Grant Stewart Stevens. went up.
In response, Lancashire scored 40 runs in the first 25 balls before Luke Wells handed Stewart a comeback catch. With the Kent bowlers leading the way at comparable run rates at the end of the 10-over Powerplay phase, put pressure on
Josh Bohannon never went before he was dismissed at fine leg and then came the big wicket of Jennings, who was caught at extra cover for 72.
It was a real match-turner, and there was more. Evison came in from the boundary to take another brilliant catch to get rid of LaValle – and then came into the catch of Gilchrist to get rid of Lamb. And, although the last pair from Lancashire made it to the 49th over, the conclusion had already been decided.