Van Jaarsveld hundred in vain

Martin van Jaarsveld sweeps during his 124 from 93 balls

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A powerful 124 off 93 balls from Martin van Jaarsveld could not prevent Essex from registering a comfortable 31-run victory over Kent at Canterbury.

A brilliant second-wicket stand of 181 in 28 overs between Mark Pettini and Ravi Bopara for the second wicket helped the Eagles set a daunting target of 318.

Pettini went on to complete a century while Bopara missed out by just one run.

Although van Jaarsveld produced the best innings of the day, Kent fell short as they reached 286 for nine.

The hosts made a slow start in their chase and lost both opening batsmen inside 18 overs with only 61 on the scoreboard.

The arrival of van Jaarsveld livened it up considerably as, along with Matthew Walker (33), he scored rapidly in a 80-run partnership until Walker was caught behind attempting to reverse-sweep James Middlebrook.

Azhar Mahmood's 30 from 23 balls brought the score to 206 for five before he was trapped in front, and 20 runs later Geraint Jones lobbed a simple catch to short midwicket.

Van Jaarsveld, meanwhile, gave a wonderful exhibition of powerful hitting. His fifty came from 46 balls and his second six, a huge straight hit, took him to 99. A single from the next ball, the 78th he had faced, brought up his hundred.

His dismissal, with 258 on the board, having hit 11 fours and three sixes, virtually ended any hope the Spitfires had of forcing a win.

Andre Nel, Chris Wright and Middlebrook impressed for Essex in taking two wickets each.

Earlier, Pettini played fluent strokes in reached his half-century off 67 balls. Bopara was aggressive throughout and was particularly severe on Mahmood, who was hit for four boundaries in an over that cost 18 in total.

The Essex hundred came in the 18th over followed by Bopara's half-century, from 49 balls.

His hitting spree continued with runs coming rapidly. On 78 he was nearly caught at wide long-on but the fielder, Joe Denly, fell over and six runs was the result.

Bopara’s innings finally came to end when he was caught behind off Yasir Arafat. By then, with 11 fours and three sixes from only 87 balls, Bopara had taken the total to 207 for two.

Essex’s third wicket fell with the score on 215 and, on 269, they lost two wickets off successive balls, the second of which accounted for Pettini, who had faced 166 balls, hitting nine fours and a six over midwicket in his 119.

The remaining five overs brought the visitors 47 runs. Arafat and Ryan McLaren claimed two wickets apiece at a cost of 39 and 58 respectively.