Roman Walker bags six as Leicestershire thrash Kent

Roman Walker took 6 for 43 as Leicestershire Foxes thrashed Kent Spitfires by 264 runs in the Metro Bank One Day Cup at Beckenham.

The Foxes skittled Kent for 116, after posting 380 for 5. Peter Handscomb hit 87 off 67 balls in an innings which saw five Foxes batters make half-centuries. Colin Ackermann was their next-highest scorer with 78 not out.

Matt Parkinson took 2 for 64 on his home debut, but it was an otherwise dismal performance by the hosts, who were eclipsed by Leicestershire in every department.

Kent repented at leisure after choosing to field, as openers Sol Budinger and Rishi Patel put on 116 for the first wicket, before Parkinson intervened at the start of the 18th. His first delivery as a Kent player on home turf removed Budinger, who was caught by Alex Blake for 67. In his next over Parkinson had Lewis Hill caught on the boundary by Grant Stewart and Hamid Qadri then caught and bowled Patel.

This mini-collapse temporarily slowed the scoring rate and Leicestershire went 10.2 overs without a boundary, but after playing himself in Handscomb launched an aggressive counter-attack that only ended when he holed out to James Bazley and was caught by Nathan Gilchrist.

Wiaan Mulder maintained the momentum with 67 before Bazley had him caught by Alex Blake at cow corner in the final over and when Louis Kimber came in with three balls to spare he hit a six and two fours. All of which turned out to be overkill.

Kent's chase suffered an early blow when Chris Wright had Marcus O'Riordan caught behind for seven in the third over.

Jack Leaning and Ben Compton were making a slow recovery when the former went for 25 after he was ruled lbw to a Mulder delivery that looked to be going over the top.

From 45 for 1 the Spitfires started haemorrhaging wickets. Compton had ground out 13 from 31 balls before he miscued Walker and fell to a superb one-handed catch from Hill.

Harry Finch then went to an equally impressive grab from Handscomb for 2, after gloving Josh Hull down the leg side and Joey Evison got a duck in the next over, when he toe-ended Walker and was caught behind.

Bazley had made six when he was lbw in Walker's next over, meaning the Foxes had taken five wickets for 22 runs in just 6.1 overs.

It would have been worse for Kent but having earlier taken a stunning catch Hill dropped a dolly off Hull when Grant Stewart was on 12.

That reprieve counted for little. Although Stewart hit Walker for six over cow corner in the next over, he skied the next delivery straight to Hull at third, ending the second biggest partnership of the innings.

A crestfallen Beckenham crowd managed some ironic cheers as Kent passed three figures but Hamid Qadri soon went for 13, caught behind off Mulder.

Walker took his fifth wicket when Gilchrist was caught behind off a bottom edge for one and the rout was concluded when Parkinson went for a second-ball duck, caught off Walker in the slips by Ackermann.