Kent moved to the top of the South East division in the Friends Provident Trophy with a 106-run win over Essex at Chelmsford.

Batting second for the first time in the competition this season, the home side struggled in the twilight and barely lasted 25 overs as they made a futile attempt to chase what should have been a straightforward target of 230.

It would have been an even smaller target if Kent had not made 45 runs in the final five overs of their innings. Graham Napier and Ravi Bopara had taken three wickets apiece to give Essex the upper hand but when it was their turn to bat, the home side were swiftly put on the back foot, often quite literally, when their first five wickets all fell to leg-before decisions.

Yasir Arafat claimed four of them, winning the nod from Allan Jones, the umpire, for some nagging accuracy with the new ball that had the Essex men in several minds. The only contentious dismissal was that of Bopara, first ball, who appeared on a TV replay to have been hit by a ball that was passing high and wide of leg stump.

At 42 for five - and then 61 for seven as the Kent change bowlers also enjoyed themselves - Essex's chase was over and while there was some entertaining big hitting from the tail, there was no one who could build a long innings. Napier launched one six off Simon Cook that bounced off the roof of a two-storey house beyond the long-off boundary but was caught on 23 trying for another and although Andre Nel, awarded his county cap before the game, hit his second ball for another six, he was soon the last man out.

Essex should have been chasing a smaller total after their opening bowlers restricted the Kent batsmen to four an over in the first powerplay and Bopara and Napier ran through the order in the middle overs. James Foster's brilliant one-handed catch to his right off the bowling of Napier ended an opening stand of 62 between Joe Denly and Robert Key. Napier then trapped Martin Van Jaarsveld in the crease first ball and plucked out Key's middle stump.

Justin Kemp, the occasionally explosive South Africa batsman, was the highest scorer, reaching his fifty off 83 balls shortly before skying a catch off Bopara to David Masters. Bopara then found an extra zip to his bowling to dismiss Geraint Jones and Darren Stevens before Nel's direct hit off his own bowling ran out Azhar Mahmood.

Essex v Kent

Chelmsford (Kent won toss): Kent (2pts) beat Essex by 106 runs

Kent

J L Denly c Foster b Napier 28

*R W T Key b Napier 41

M van Jaarsveld lbw b Napier 0

J M Kemp c Masters b Bopara 51

D I Stevens lbw b Bopara 17

G O Jones b Bopara 23

Azhar Mahmood run out 15

J C Tredwell not out 20

Yasir Arafat not out 13

Extras (lb 14, w 8) 22

Total (7 wkts, 50 overs) 230

R H Joseph and S J Cook did not bat.

Fall of wickets: 1-62, 2-62, 3-89, 4-124, 5-173, 6-185, 7-197.

Bowling: Nel 10-1-45-0; Wright 6-0-33-0; Masters 10-0-34-0; Napier 9-1-29-3; Bopara 9-0-49-3; ten Doeschate 6-0-26-0.

Essex

*M L Pettini lbw b Arafat 1

J E R Gallian lbw b Mahmood 24

R S Bopara lbw b Arafat 0

G W Flower lbw b Arafat 5

R N ten Doeschate c Jones b Cook 14

J S Foster lbw b Arafat 0

J D Middlebrook c Kemp b Joseph 2

G R Napier c Arafat b Joseph 23

C J C Wright lbw b Cook 23

D D Masters not out 14

A Nel c Jones b Joseph 6

Extras (lb 6, w 6) 12

Total (25.5 overs) 124

Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-9, 3-35, 4-36, 5-42, 6-52, 7-61, 8-80, 9-115.

Bowling: Mahmood 6-0-24-1; Arafat 8-0-29-4; Cook 5-0-35-2; Joseph 6.5-0-30-3.

Umpires: A A Jones and J F Steele.