Date-stamped : 28 Jul97 - 14:42 Kent stroll after Middlesex flop By Bryon Butler at Lord`s Kent (152-2) bt Middlesex (151-8) by 8 wkts MIDDLESEX, by and large, have not got the hang of the Sunday bash. The start of their innings was prosaic, its middle slug- gish and its climax, 40 runs in the last five overs, no more than par for the course. They have not aspired to 200 runs in the AXA Life League this summer. All of which allowed Kent, their little hiccup in the Benson and Hedges final a fading memory, to keep their season nicely on the boil: third in the championship, third in the AXA. They were in no great rush on a variable pitch against Middlesex but still finished with eight wickets and four ball to spare. It was, in the end, a doddle and therefore less that spell- binding entertainment. The Middlesex batting, without Mark Ram- prakash who has a hand injury, was full of errors and omissions until the fi- nal frolic. They were 25 after 10 overs, 58 after 20 and 85 after 30. Martin McCague and Alan Igglesden, Kent`s opening attack, bowled their 16 overs straight through for 40 runs - and Iggles- den, in his third, took the wickets of Jacques Kallis and Mike Gatting with suc- cessive deliveries. Only Keith Dutch, whose principal trade is off-spin, used his bat with sustained conviction. He made 58 (65 balls, five fours) be- fore, to the last delivery of the innings, he became the third Middlesex batsman to be bowled by Matthew Fleming. It was Dutch`s first fifty in limited overs cricket. The pitch was two-paced and sometimes low, which meant Kent could take nothing much for granted. But after Matthew Walker, playing across the line, had fallen to James Hewitt, those old hands, Trevor Ward, captain for the day, and Alan Wells worked hard to establish themselves. Neither saw any need to take risks, they often profited in the same areas, particularly through the covers and their scores were always in step. Ward reached his fifty first, just, and they put on 138 for the second wicket before Wells holed out at mid-on for 56 (113 balls, four fours). Ward finished with 68 not out (111 balls, five fours). It was Middlesex`s seventh de- feat in their last eight Sunday games. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)