Worcestershire defeated despite posting imposing total
Double century-maker Ollie Robinson hit Kent’s highest individual score in List A cricket as they chased down a 352 target with 5.1 overs to spare in their opening Royal London Cup encounter with Worcestershire at New Road.
Robinson seized upon the opportunity presented by Kent captain Sam Billings and Jordan Cox’s inclusion for The Hundred after spending the 2022 Vitality Blast on loan to Durham.
He surpassed the previous best Kent performance in 50 over cricket of 150 not out by Joe Denly against Glamorgan at Canterbury four years ago.
A lofted cover drive for four against Josh Baker took Robinson to his double ton from 130 balls and was the cue for a standing ovation all around the ground and he ended on 206 not out.
Worcestershire club captain Brett D’Oliveira said: “Tough game to sum up. We had a bit of trouble at the start and credit to Matt Henry, he bowled a really good opening spell and got quite a bit out of the wicket.
“Kashif scored an excellent hundred and there were some good knocks around him and we got up to 350.
“For Kashif to come in at that stage on List A debut and get a hundred, and dig the team out of a hole and get us up to a challenging total, was superb.
“We got up to a really good total but credit has to go to Ollie Robinson because that was a phenomenal knock.
“We can pick holes in our own stuff, we could have bowled a lot better, hit the stumps a lot more and built some more pressure in the field where we missed some half chances.”
