A magnificent spell of new-ball bowling by Yasir Arafat spearheaded Kent to an easy 106-run victory over Essex in the Friends Provident Trophy at Chelmsford.

He demolished the top order by claiming four of the first five wickets, all of them lbw, as Kent easily defended their total of 230 for seven.

Yasir returned final figures of four for 29 from eight overs as Essex were bowled out for 124 in the 26th over to leave them suffering their first Friends Provident defeat of the season and surrender their place at the top of the table to the visitors.

Yasir struck with the fifth and sixth deliveries of his opening over to get rid of Mark Pettini, who had scored 119 when the sides met in the competition earlier in the season, and Ravi Bopara.

He also removed Grant Flower and James Foster during this devastating burst, and with Azhar Mahmood getting rid Jason Gallian for a top score 24, another lbw victim, Essex found themselves in disarray at 42 for five by the end of the 10th over.

Tail-enders Graham Napier and Chris Wright unleashed a few belligerent strokes while each scoring 23 to help Essex to at least steer clear of complete humiliation.

Robbie Joseph provided the main support to Arafat with figures of three for 30 from 6.5 overs while Simon Cook and Mahmood finished with two for 35 and one for 24 respectively.

Justin Kemp nourished the Kent innings with 51, the only half-century of the match.

Kemp's innings included only three boundaries and consumed 86 deliveries, ending when he swung Bopara to deep midwicket.

But in the context of the game it was a valuable effort when he arrived to do battle after the medium paced Napier had removed Joe Denly and Martin van Jaarsveld with successive balls in his first over.

Napier also claimed the scalp of Robert Key for 41 after he had shared in an opening stand of 62 in a dozen overs with Denly.

Napier finished with three for 29 while Bopara took three for 49.

But in the end their performances were not enough to deny Kent a victory that avenged the 31-run defeat they suffered at Canterbury earlier in the competition.