Denly was a figure of calmness as Kent eased to victory

Kent recovered from a poor start to beat 2006 runners-up Nottinghamshire by nine wickets at Trent Bridge and reach the semi-finals of the Twenty20 Cup.

Skipper Stephen Fleming (49) put on 82 in 51 balls with Graeme Swann (30) but Notts lost 6-29 and the last three in as many balls as they ended with 138.

Rob Key (54) put on 96 with Joe Denly as Kent cruised towards their target.

Nine were needed off the last over but Denly (63 not out) kept his cool as the visitors won with one ball remaining.

Kiwi star Fleming got the game, which had been delayed by 24 hours because of rain, off to a flying start.

He timed the ball beautifully and picked the gaps with ease as he crashed seven fours and a six.

But once he was bowled by Simon Cook, the scoring slowed down as as Kent's bowlers took the pace off the ball.

We got the pitch we wanted to play on and made the perfect start but we then batted very poorly Notts boss Mick Newell

With a succession of batsmen bowled charging down the wicket or caught miscueing to fielders the innings subsided alarmingly.

Key and Denly were far more watchful and the foundations they laid proved crucial in the end.

Only a brilliant penultimate over of the innings from Mark Ealham, which went for just two, created pressure on the visitors but there was never any real doubt about the outcome.

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Denly paddle-swept AJ Harris for four and two scrambled singles sent the joint-favourites packing and left most of the crowd of 7,585 wondering what might have been.

Afterwards, Notts boss Mick Newell said: "We got the pitch we wanted to play on and made the perfect start but we then batted very poorly.

"When you're playing on a slow pitch you have to take advantage of the new ball and we did but we lost our way completely - numbers three to six didn't adapt to the conditions.

"For 20 overs it was a slow death until Mark gave us hope and it put pressure on the last over but Kent deserved to win."