WEST INDIES made light of a nightmare journey from central London to the southeastern suburbs to beat Kent by 91 runs yesterday at Beckenham. (Scores: West Indies 274-8 beat Kent 183 by 91 runs).
It took the tourists two-and-a-half hours to get to Beckenham from their hotel in Kensington with one of the main roads out of town closed.
West Indies were so late the match was reduced to 48 overs but after being inserted they hit 274-8.
That total was far too good Kent, bowled out for 183 in 41.1 overs.
The West Indies innings was built around two big partnerships with Ramnaresh Sarwan (79) leading the way.
First, Shiv Chanderpaul (60) batted patiently to help Sarwan add 107 for the third wicket.
And then Brian Lara lifted the tempo by slamming 68 off 53 balls in another stand with Sarwan worth 99.
Martin Saggers, who has played two Tests for England but is not in their one-day squad, had a good workout with bowling figures of 5-51.
BROKEN HAND
Kent were hampered by having two of their best batsmen on England duty, while a third, Matthew Walker, broke his hand in pre-match nets and could not take his place in the side.
Ed Smith batted well enough, hitting 54, but he completely lacked support with Amjad Khan's 21 at number eight the next best score.
Jermaine Lawson, the paceman who has already been talked up by his captain Lara, ripped through the middle order to collect 4-59 while Ravi Rampaul also bowled a fine spell with 2-14 in six overs.
One concern for the tourists will be the extras conceded - 38 runs in wides and no-balls were frittered away, with Lawson the biggest culprit on both counts. (BBC Sport).
WEST INDIES innings (48 over maximum)
C.Gayle b Saggers 0
S.Chanderpaul c Carberry b Saggers 60
D.R.Smith c Khan b Saggers 23
R.Sarwan c Khan b Tredwell 79
B.Lara c Khan b Tredwell 68
D.Bravo lbw b M.Sami 4
R.Powell c O'Brien b Saggers 3
R.Jacobs not out 8
R.Rampaul c O'Brien b Saggers 3
T.Best not out 0
Extras: (lb-2, w-16, nb-8) 26
Total: (8 wickets, 48 overs) 274
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-37, 3-143, 4-242, 5-253 , 6-258, 7-262, 8-273.
Bowling: Saggers 9-0-51-5 (nb-5, w-1), Trott 6-0-30-0, Mohammad Sami 10-1-49-1 (nb-3, w-7), Tredwell 10-0-62-2, Khan 8-0-53-0 (w-8), Dennington 5-0-27-0.
KENT innings (target: 275 runs from 48 overs)
M.Carberry c Smith b Lawson 7
E.Smith c Jacobs b Smith 54
A.Loudon c Jacobs b Rampaul 12
D.Fulton c Jacobs b Rampaul 10
J.Tredwell c Rampaul b Lawson 7
M.Dennington c Powell b Lawson 1
N.O'Brien c Bravo b Lawson 18
A.Khan stp. Jacobs b Gayle 21
M.Sami c Jacobs b Smith 1
M.Saggers c Jacobs b Bravo 9
B.Trott not out 3
Extras: (lb-2, w-25, nb-13) 40
Total: (all out, 41.1 overs) 183
Fall of wickets:: 1-14, 2-49, 3-78, 4-95, 5-101, 6-128 , 7-151 , 8-155,, 9-175.