Anthony McGrath's unbeaten 85 off 80 balls, with two sixes and seven fours, sent Kent tumbling to their first defeat in five matches in the NatWest Pro40 second division.

McGrath joined Jacques Rudolph in a third-wicket partnership of 75 in 14 overs to make victory for Yorkshire almost a formality, but it had been set up by Richard Pyrah, an unsung all-rounder from Dewsbury, who gave Amjad Khan and Robbie Joseph, Kent's ambitious fast bowlers, a lesson in how to bowl on a helpful pitch. Pyrah took four for 35 by the simple expedient of bowling straight and nipping the ball about off the seam.

Justin Kemp and Simon Cook helped Kent to recover from a poor start, putting on 46 in 11 overs for the fourth wicket, but then Pyrah had Kemp caught at long-off, bowled Cook and had Ryan McLaren and Geraint Jones caught behind.

Darren Stevens lifted Kent to what appeared to be a competitive 189 for nine with an unbeaten 60 off 40 balls, including two sixes and five fours. But Khan and Joseph were so wayward that Yorkshire were soon ahead of the required rate, and McGrath - first with Rudolph, then with Gerard Brophy - sped Yorkshire to a victory, with nearly seven overs left, which keeps them in the promotion race.

Kent

J L Denly c Brophy b Kruis 22

*R W T Key c Rudolph b Bresnan 9

M van Jaarsveld c Brophy b Kruis 0

J M Kemp c Rudolph b Pyrah 36

S J Cook b Pyrah 42

D I Stevens not out 60

R McLaren c Brophy b Pyrah 0

G O Jones c Brophy b Pyrah 8

J C Tredwell c Lyth b Rashid 1

A Khan b Naved 4

R H Joseph not out 1

Extras (lb 3, w 3) 6

Total (9 wkts, 40 overs) 189

Fall of wickets: 1-20, 2-21, 3-44, 4-90, 5-120, 6-120, 7-143, 8-146, 9-172.

Bowling: Kruis 8-0-35-2; Bresnan 5-1-10-1; Naved 7-0-34-1; Gough 6-0-41-0; Pyrah 8-0-35-4; Rashid 6-0-31-1.

Yorkshire

A W Gale c Stevens b McLaren 14

J A Rudolph c Jones b Joseph 41

Rana Naved-ul-Hasan c Jones b McLaren 0

A McGrath not out 85

G L Brophy not out 38

Extras (lb 5, w 7) 12

Total (3 wkts, 33.1 overs) 190

A Lyth, T T Bresnan, R M Pyrah, A U Rashid, *D Gough and G J Kruis did not bat.

Fall of wickets: 1-39, 2-39, 3-114.

Bowling: Khan 5-0-26-0; Joseph 8-0-45-1; McLaren 5-1-16-2; Cook 5.1-0-38-0; Tredwell 8-0-52-0; Stevens 2-0-8-0.

Umpires: M J D Bodenham and J H Evans.