Kent secured their fifth successive CB40 victory as they marched on towards the semi-finals of the competition with a fightback win over Yorkshire by 30 runs. The Spitfires did what Yorkshire have done during their own t20 campaign, they fought hard and battled back in a match that Yorkshire had taken a tight grip on midway through their reply.

Andrew Gale with 57 and Gary Ballance (26) added 42 for the fifth wicket and seemed to have taken Yorkshire within sight of victory, but Gale had a rush of blood as he charged the impressive James Tredwell and was stumped by Geraint Jones and with the first ball of the 31st over Darren Stevens had Ballance caught behind.

At 160-6 and Richard Pyrah and Azeem Rafiq new at the crease the pendulum swung as 63 runs were needed off the final 9 overs of the game.

At the top of the innings Gale and Phil Jaques had got the Tykes off to a storming start as 56 were added in the opening 7 overs as Yorkshire chased 227 to win. Jaques however pushed for a single and was short of the crease as he was sent back by his skipper. Joe Root (10) drove Mark Davies to Alex Blake at cover and Yorkshire stuttered.

Adam Lyth (24) played well, including a huge straight six off Tredwell, but he then hit the same bowler straight to Sam Billings on the leg-side fence. Adil Rashid was promoted above Gary Ballance but didn't contribute before being lbw to Tredwell and the game was up for grabs.

With 9 overs left Yorkshire required 55 to win. Rafiq struck Tredwell through the offside as no side gave an inch in what had boiled up into a grandstand finish with Tredwell ending with 3-31 from his 8 over stint.

Yorkshire took the batting powerplay with 6 overs left and 47 required. Only 2 runs came from the first of the three as Matt Coles returned well after his first two overs had cost 19 runs at the top of the innings. In Simon Cook's next over Pyrah (12) skied to Billings.

Rafiq was bowled by Coles for 17 and with 36 needed from the last three overs the writing was on the wall. Dan Hodgson hit a legside boundary but only 5 runs were mustered from the over. Hodgson and Sidebottom both skied catches as the chase got too much and the hosts celebrated a win that keeps their CB40 ambitions intact. 

Earlier, the Yorkshire bowlers found their lines and variations well as they restricted the Kent top order early on in this CB40 match which was crucial to the hosts but more of a t20 warm-up game for the Tykes.

Sam Billings (15) was victim of a swift Dan Hodgson stumping off Richard Pyrah as Kent found themselves 41-1 at the end of the ninth over. Rob Key and Sam Northeast added 70 for the second wicket in 13.2 overs before Northeast found the hands of Andrew Gale off Adil Rashid.

Rob Key hundred, after being dropped by Phil Jaques when on 67, in 107 balls with 6 fours and 2 sixes. He fell a couple of balls later though when he hit Ashraf to Rashid and was on his way for 101. Kent were 182-3 with 5.5 overs remaining.

Alex Blake was bowled by an Ashraf yorker, we've seen a few of them this year, to make it two wickets in the 35th over. Richard Pyrah pulled off a stunning return catch to get rid of Darren Stevens (43 off 50 balls) before late runs from Brendan Nash (18*) and Geraint Jones (13*) saw Kent to 226-5 in their 40 overs.

MATCH ZONE

MATCH PREVIEW

After defeat to Sussex on Sunday Yorkshire's exit from the CB40 competition was confirmed, but momentum, practice and pride are at stake against Kent in Canterbury as the Tykes prepare for their first ever Finals Day.

Yorkshire are blessed with a full week of one-day cricket before they head to Bristoi to train ahead of taking on Sussex in Saturday's first semi-final at the SWALEC Stadium in Cardiff.

YORKSHIRE CARNEGIE SQUAD

Andrew GALE (capt), Phil JAQUES, Joe ROOT, Adam LYTH, Gary BALLANCE, Richard PYRAH, Dan HODGSON (wk), Adil RASHID, Azeem RAFIQ, Ryan SIDEBOTTOM, Moin ASHRAF, Iain WARDLAW and Steve PATTERSON.

The 16-man squad for Finals Day will be made up of the 13 players above and Jonny Bairstow, Tim Bresnan and David Miller.

KENT SQUAD

TBC