Spitfires star Adam Ball admitted that yesterday’s defeat to the Hampshire was “very disappointing” but backed the side to come back strongly.

The left-arm seamer picked up two wickets as the Kent seemed to be in with a chance of victory when visitors Hampshire were 59-4 chasing 136 to win, before Australian batsman Glenn Maxwell hit an astounding 66 from 32 balls.

Speak to KSN at the end of yesterday’s game, Ball said: “It’s a very disappointing defeat from the position we were in with the ball, we would have backed ourselves to go on and win that game but fair play to Glenn Maxwell – it was an unbelievable knock and I think in T20 things like that happen – we’ve got to hold our hands up and say that was an unbelievable performance and move on to the next game.”

The young bowler picked up the vital wickets of James Vince and Neil McKenzie in his spell, which he finished with figures of 2-27 from his four overs, and he admitted that he was pleased with his form in the season so far.

“I’ve been very happy with how I’ve gone in the T20 tournament so far – a couple of wickets most games and a half-decent economy rate so that’s all I can ask for really, and I’m doing my job in the team and hopefully I can retain a spot” he said.

Having missed a large chunk of the county season earlier in the year due to his commitments as England under-19 captain, the seamer said that he was happy to be back with the Kent lads at Canterbury.

He said: “It’s very good being back with the Kent boys, it’s a decent atmosphere in the dressing room with the few new boys, and they’ve added masses to the dressing room, so it’s really nice to be back in the fold.

Ball was at the centre of a moment of controversy in yesterday’s game, making an incredibly athletic dive over the rope to save a six, throwing the ball back inside the rope before he touched the ground to save five runs for his team.

Hampshire captain Dimitri Mascarenhas was clearly aggrieved by the umpire’s decision not to award the boundary, entering the field of play in protest, drawing boos and cat-calls from the Kent crowd.

Unfortunately, it would matter little as Maxwell put the next ball away for a maximum and the match was over shortly afterwards, the Royals completing the victory with ten balls still remaining.

About the incident, Ball said: “It’s something we all work on in training – saving every run we can – and that’s a way of doing it – catching balls outside the boundary and throwing them back in. Apparently there’s a change in the rule – I don’t really know – but it ended up saving five runs so if that’s what I can do to contribute to the team then that’s what I’ll do.”

With the games in the Twenty20 cup coming thick and fast at the moment, Ball expressed his confidence that the Spitfires could pick up a victory against bottom-of-the-table Middlesex at the St Lawrence Ground on Tuesday night, saying: “I look forward to every Twenty20 match – they’re great fun, so hopefully we can bounce back with a win on Tuesday and get out of this group into the quarter finals.”