Notts ease past Kent

Will Jefferson added five runs as Notts won by 10 wickets

Nottinghamshire needed only 5.4 overs to complete the formality of scoring just 22 runs to inflict a 10-wicket LV County Championship defeat on Kent.

Despite overnight rain at Canterbury, play began only a quarter of an hour late on the final day for which three overs were reduced.

Not that it would have mattered as the task facing the visitors was quite simple.

Had bad light not intervened for the third time on the previous evening, their victory would have come in just three days after the home side's innings was wound up on 293 for nine with Yasir Arafat unable to bat, complaining of abdominal pain.

On yet another cold morning and in heavy atmosphere, with the ground almost empty, Nottinghamshire took 22 minutes to knock off the runs.

Will Jefferson had five runs from 15 balls faced, one of which he flicked to the mid-wicket boundary off Martin Saggers in the fifth over.

Captain Chris Read was delighted with the win

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His partner, Matthew Wood, struck two boundaries from the 20 balls he faced and he had an all-run four in the fourth over.

His first boundary was a lovely extra cover drive off Azhar Mahmood, also in the fourth over and the next one was the match-winning drive to cover, again off Mahmood.

Nottinghamshire captain Chris Read said: “I'm very happy (it's been) an exceptional four days. From the moment we lost the toss and went out on the field the opening bowlers started exceptionally well and put the pressure on and got early wickets.

“We've been a bit up and down in recent seasons, we gained promotion in 2004 and promptly won the championship in 2005 only to come back down the year after, so i it's all been topsy-turvy, but we believe that we belong in Division One and to start the season like this is obviously very sweet.”

Asked about his own ambitions to get back in to the England team he added: “It's not something that I believe is in my control, my job is obviously to develop the side as the new captain of the team.

“My performance with the bat and behind the stumps is crucial to this side's success and if the selectors come calling then it's great and that'll be a bonus but it's not something that I actively think about right now.”