GERAINT JONES may have taken the catch to win one of the greatest of Tests, and beer at Kent’s St Lawrence Ground was being sold at just £1.50 a pint by Shepherd Neame, the county’s chief sponsor, in celebration of events at Edgbaston, but there was little else for Kent Spitfires supporters to cheer about in a five-wicket defeat by Surrey Lions yesterday.

Tim Murtagh and Neil Saker shared seven wickets as Kent struggled to 211 and not even three early strikes by Andrew Hall could prevent Surrey from cruising home on the back of a 117-run stand for the fourth wicket between Jon Batty, who made a competition-best 82, and Alistair Brown.

One inspired over from Gideon Kruis, their South African paceman, plus batting suicide from two of Scotland’s main players, was enough to Yorkshire Phoenix to chalk up a routine win in their bottom-of-the-table clash in Edinburgh yesterday.

For the Scots, whose next one-day match is against Australia in ten days, it was a frustrating case of what might have been. With Jonathan Beukes, their South African, sailing serenely on to 78 and solid support coming from a series of partners, the Saltires seemed well on their way to setting a challenging target.

Faced with that prospect, Craig White, the Yorkshire captain, struck gold when he turned to Kruis who induced Colin Smith into a wild swipe, then bowled Beukes and trapped Qasim Sheikh leg-before. Scotland were lucky to pass 200 and it was never enough. With Phil Jacques the mainstay Yorkshire never had to press the accelerator.