Joey Evison inspires Kent to Royal London Cup glory

NICK FRIEND AT TRENT BRIDGE: Kent's win is their first in a List A final since 1978, ending a run of eight successive final defeats; Darren Stevens made an unbeaten 33 and bowled eight wicketless overs, before leaving the field with a groin problem

Trent Bridge: Kent 306-6, Lancashire 285 - Kent win by 21 runs

Scorecard

Kent won the Royal London Cup, beating Lancashire by 21 runs as Darren Stevens won his first List A final at the fourth attempt, although the 46-year-old allrounder was forced off the field with a groin problem in what could be his final appearance in Kent colours.

Stevens made 33 with the bat, suffering the injury during his innings, before bowling eight wicketless overs. He left the field shortly afterwards but watched his teammates produce a similar display to Glamorgan's in the 2021 final, when they successfully defended a score close to 300 against Durham. Joey Evison, nominally Stevens' long-term replacement, starred with 97 and two wickets.

Kent made 306 for 6 – a total that ought to have been more – before taking regular wickets through Lancashire's reply in front of a 9,040-strong crowd to give much-needed gloss to a season that has otherwise been disappointing for the Canterbury county. It is their first win in a List A final since 1978, ending a run of eight successive final defeats.

For Lancashire, this has been a fine season, but this was their final chance of silverware after losing the T20 Blast final in July and seeing their outside hopes of reeling in Surrey and Hampshire in the County Championship ended by a points deduction.

After Kent won the toss and elected to bat, Ben Compton carved the game's fourth ball loosely to Steven Croft at gully to give Keaton Jennings' men the perfect start.

Their grip gradually loosened as the middle phase of Kent's innings took shape: Evison, who has joined from Nottinghamshire, rebuilt first with Ollie Robinson, who ends the Royal London Cup as its third-highest run-scorer, before continuing with Joe Denly after Robinson was brilliantly caught off his inside edge by George Lavelle, his opposite number behind the stumps.

^{Darren Stevens made an unbeaten 33 but suffered a groin problem that meant he spent much of the second half of the game off the field (Gareth Copley/Getty Images)}

It was only when three runs short of a fine hundred that Evison, who had successfully reviewed on 48, was castled by a slower delivery from Danny Lamb, the most economical of Lancashire's change bowlers. There was a particular symmetry to the 20-year-old's display in a game that might well be Stevens' last for the county. His departure ought to have set up a big finish, with 13 overs still remaining and a platform in place for a score in excess of 330.

But there was hardly a flurry to speak of thereafter; Denly fell for 78, hacking across the line at Liam Hurt, who was warned for an accidental beamer that had Alex Blake flinching for cover. The subsequent free hit was squirted away for two in his 38, which included a one-handed six over long on. His partnership with Stevens amounted to 39 runs in 34 balls, a mostly stodgy struggle as Lancashire began to haul themselves back into the reckoning, with run-scoring obviously more difficult when the seamers took pace off the ball.

Stevens hit two fours – one a trademark thud down the ground – but was dropped twice as the standard of Lancashire's fielding nosedived. Luke Wells was guilty of shelling two opportunities – one significantly tougher than the other – before he was involved in a mix-up with Jennings, his opening partner, leading to the former England man dropping a dolly that left Stevens chuckling to himself, as if even he couldn't fathom such generosity on his last hurrah.

If that is to be his final outing as a Kent player, it wasn't his best, but it was a reminder, too, that the tank is still far from empty.

In reply, Kent gift-wrapped Lancashire a fast start, straying either too straight or too wide at Jennings and Wells, both seasoned pros who weren't going to miss out on the offer of free runs. The pair put on 40 for the first wicket inside five overs, at which point Grant Stewart – one of two offenders, along with Nathan Gilchrist – held onto a return catch to see the back of Wells.

^{Nathan Gilchrist ended with three wickets for Kent (Gareth Copley/Getty Images)}

In his absence, Jennings continued to motor mostly without risk, only occasionally moving across his stumps to flip Stevens past fine leg for two boundaries. At the other end, Lancashire lost momentum with the arrival of Josh Bohannon, who has scored his runs at a slower strike rate than all but two of the 50 highest run-scorers in the tournament. He was tied down painfully until an opportunity to break the shackles resulted in a leg-stump delivery clipped into the hands of Stewart at fine leg.

Steven Croft was similarly bogged down initially, as Kent turned the screw, but he gradually found fluency in a 54-run stand with Jennings, whose 71 came from just 63 balls. So, his demise came as a major surprise and a bonus for Kent, who had persisted with a quartet of seamers until introducing Hamid Qadri to the attack. He enticed Jennings to chip to cover, and seven overs later Evison bowled Dane Vilas via inside edge.

But as Lancashire have done all competition-long, they found a way of staying in the game; Croft – one of the county cricketers of the summer – reached 72, before slapping Gilchrist at Blake, who leapt to take a fine catch at midwicket. Lavelle fell not long afterwards, caught well by Evison near the legside rope.

There was late resistance led by Lamb, but he was expertly taken by Gilchrist to give Stewart a second wicket, and it was clear from the reactions of Kent's fielders that they knew the wicket's significance. Stewart picked up his third in the same over, Rob Jones trapped in front by a slower ball.

Gilchrist then cleaned up Tom Bailey to bring Kent within one wicket of victory, though only after Evison had grounded what would otherwise have been a remarkable catch to end his terrific day. Fittingly, he would have the final say in any case, bowling Hurt to spark bedlam among the Kent faithful.