Joe Denly’s final game as a professional cricketer ended in thrilling style as Kent beat Somerset by two wickets, with eight balls to spare, after a wonderful Metro Bank game at Canterbury.

Somerset played a full part, by putting on 313 for nine: Lewis Goldsworthy top-scoring with 87, while Savin Perera hit 75 and Joshua Thomas 60. Matt Milnes claimed three for 53, while Denly took two for 42 from six overs, before scoring 20 in the chase.

The hosts were in deep trouble on 230 for six when he fell: Daniel Bell-Drummond gave them a platform with exactly 100, but with 84 still needed, Ekansh Singh scored an electrifying 40 from 20 and Grant Stewart finished the job with an unbeaten 35.

A crowd of over 3,000 were at the St. Lawrence, with the club reporting a sharp spike in ticket sales after it was announced this would be Denly’s final game as a professional on Thursday afternoon.

Kent chose to bowl and got Archie Vaughan for five when Keith Dudgeon had him caught behind for five, but Somerset responded with three substantial partnerships.

Tom Lammonby looked well set on 42, only to pull Grant Stewart to Ekansh on the square leg boundary, while Perera eased past 50 before he was caught and bowled off a rank full toss from Denly.

Thomas played and missed thrice before getting his eye in, joining Goldsworthy for a stand of 94 that ended when the latter was caught by Milnes at long off, off Keith Dudgeon.

Thereafter Kent took wickets regularly to at least restrict the visitors to a manageable target.

Jonny Connell went for five, hitting Matt Parkinson to Ben Dawkins and Milnes got Thomas for 60, caught by Harry Finch long off, before, in his final ever over, Denly claimed his second wicket when Church hit him to Finch for a golden duck, although James Theedom hit the last ball of the innings for four.

Kent were 64 without loss when Ben Dawkins, who’d just hit Goldsworthy for six, offered him a sharp return catch and was out for 30.

Bell-Drummond and Sam Northeast put on 71 for the second wicket, but that latter was controversially out for 18 by the square leg umpire, officially stumped, although replays showed he never left his crease.

Kent wobbled after Bell-Drummond squeezed a single off Vaughan to reach three figures, only to sky Josh Shaw to Vaughan without adding to his score.

When Finch hit Vaughan to Theedom long off it brought Denly to the crease. He was given a guard of honour by the Somerset players and the stage was could hardly have been set any better, with Kent still needing 129 to win.

Chris Benjamin went for 29, caught behind off Theedom, however and Denly followed when he lofted Theedom to Goldsworthy, before leaving the field to a standing ovation.

Ekansh Singh reignited Kent’s hopes with a brilliant 40 off 20, only to hit Shaw to Goldsworthy, leaving Kent needing 35 from 32. Somerset were favourites again when Goldsworthy bowled Dudgeon for a duck, but with 10 needed off the last two, Stewart hit Shaw for successive fours before driving two to secure a memorable win.

Kent’s Joe Denly said: “To get the win and for it to be such an entertaining game, it was a nice way to go out. I’m delighted. Hopefully the boys can get a bit of momentum now and really kick on in this competition.

“I don’t think any team took the game by the scruff of the neck. It was a bit up and down, I think they played pretty well. We bowled really well to start with, they hung in there and got themselves a platform to kick on at the end, which got themselves up to a really competitive score. The chase was a textbook chase, if you like, obviously, it would have been nice to have a few wickets less, but Daniel Bell-Drummond showed his class, getting 100. I’m delighted for the boys.

“To see the turnout today was pretty special. Memories that I won’t forget, that’s for sure. The injury I had was a bit of a nasty one to the shin and it was a bit tough to know whether I would be back in time for this game, but it was the last opportunity to come out at Canterbury and play in front of a home crowd. I’m delighted to get myself fit. It’s been an amazing day and one I’ll always remember. There were certain moments today that were incredibly special.”

Somerset’s Lewis Goldsworthy said: “It was disappointing not to get over the line there at the end, you know, the game got real close, but I felt we were probably 20 short of the bat, I reckon. I didn’t quite execute well enough with the ball at the end, but we put up a good fight throughout the 50 overs.

“He (Lamey) is an obvious talent and we tried to bolster that lower middle order. I think the issue today was no top-order bat really went on and was there at the end. We just lost wickets at the wrong time, which meant that we couldn’t post a score that we felt was high.

“Sometimes it just doesn’t go your way, but there’s some good signs, I think, through the whole batting order really, especially the top five or six, there’s some really good signs.

(Should he have bowled more?) “I mean, it’s easy in hindsight, I don’t really know. We were taking wickets at the end of the day. I didn’t really want to give them an easy boundary option to the short side. Just a little roll of the dice at the end with my two overs, but it didn’t quite work. We missed out with a couple of misfields there and conceded a few extra runs, but that can happen, as long as the boys are throwing themselves around with themselves in the line and trying their hardest.”

Picture supplied by Ian Scammell – Oyster Bay Photography.