for 42 in a period which saw them to 209 for 8, Carl Hopkinson and Mushtaq Ahmed added 21 for the ninth wicket. The Spitfires' innings started with losing Neil Dexter for a five-ball duck, bowled by James Kirtley, and Robin Martin-Jenkins had three men caught as Kent lost their first five wickets for 48. Despite 51 from Michael Carberry Kent never got anywhere near the target, Kirtley taking the final wickets as Kent finished on 169. (Cricinfo scorecard) Sussex v Kent (21–23 September) Sussex (20pts) beat Kent (5pts) by eight wickets Sussex' three main bowlers won them the game at Hove against Kent – James Kirtley took seven for 103, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan six for 124, and Mushtaq Ahmed five for 173 in the match, as Sussex took an eight-wicket victory. Sussex took three wickets in the first 45 minutes, courtesy of Kirtley and Rana, and for only 28 runs in reply. Matthew Walker and Darren Stevens added 52 together for the fourth wicket, but it was the half-centuries from Min Patel and Niall O'Brien – his second in successive matches – that carried Kent past 200. They finished on 257, with Kirtley and Naved-ul-Hasan taking four wickets each, while Mushtaq had to be content with two for 81 from nearly 28 overs. Sussex, however, ground out 47 for 2 wickets in the 23 remaining overs, the Kent spinners Patel and Jamie Tredwell keeping them from scoring. On the second day, Sussex accelerated, but after five wickets from Patel they were 192 for 8, still trailing by 65. However, Mushtaq forged partnerships of 86 and 74 with Luke Wright and James Kirtley respectively, hitting an unbeaten 90 himself as Sussex ended on 348. Kent trailed by 89, and in the second innings Robert Key hit eleven fours in a two-hour 84, but he was dismissed by Robin Martin-Jenkins just before the close of the second day's play to leave Kent with a lead of 53 with seven wickets in hand. Kirtley, Rana and Mushtaq removed the last seven wickets for 94 runs on day three, leaving Sussex 148 to chase, which they did inside two hours thanks to half-centuries from Carl Hopkinson and Michael Yardy. (Cricinfo scorecard) Leicestershire v Kent (25 September) Leicestershire (4pts) beat Kent (0pts) by 40 runs on the Duckworth–Lewis method Leicestershire Foxes recorded 280 for 5 batting first at Grace Road, with captain HD Ackerman leading