Grant Flower played a key innings as Essex secured the Pro 40 Division Two crown with a four-wicket win at Kent.

Kent could have snatched the title on run-rate, and reached a useful 246-5 thanks mainly to Rob Key's unbeaten 120, featuring 15 fours and a six.

Essex lost Mark Pettini first ball but Flower, who guided Essex to FP Trophy glory at Lord's last month, made 68 off 42 balls to seal it with an over left.

Graham Napier was stretchered off after Key drove the ball against his ankle.

Napier was taken for an X-ray after he was struck in the penultimate over of the Kent innings.

No break was revealed but he needed treatment for severe bruising.

Key and Martin van Jaarsveld played in positive fashion, sharing 113 in 19 overs. The Kent skipper recorded his century after three successive fours off Ryan ten Doeschate.

In reply, Jason Gallian and Ravi Bopara played fluently in a stand of 113.

Gallian reached fifty from 69 balls but edged behind to give Darren Stevens a wicket in his first over.

Bopara brought up the Essex 100 with a four to backward square-leg but he also fell to Stevens, caught at mid-wicket.

When Ten Doeschate was brilliantly caught on the mid-wicket boundary by Joe Denly, Essex had slipped to 188-5.

Flower was in excellent touch, his fifty taking just 32 balls with five boundaries, as Essex passed 200 in the 33rd over.

Yasir Arafat returned to bowl John Maunders but James Middlebrook hit a six over mid-wicket off a slower ball from Azhar Mahmood in the 38th over, to ease the pressure on Essex, who took eight from the penultimate over to ease home.

While Essex celebrated their title victory, Kent were left to ponder on finishing fourth in the Pro40 table.

They were also beaten in the final of both the Twenty20 Cup and the Friends Provident Trophy and their captain Rob Key told BBC Radio Kent he was despondent.

"It starts to get to you when you keep getting to these big games and you don't win them. We've got to get that off our backs. I suppose bottling has to be levelled at us.

"That's three finals now, this was effectively a final, we had wides, no-balls, people can bowl better than we did today. I can only apologise to everyone who has followed us this year because we should have done a lot more."

Kent also announced that experienced batsman Matt Walker has not been offered a contract for next season.