Kent Spitfires saw their disappointing NatWest T20 Blast form continue with an eight-wicket defeat at the hands of local rivals Surrey at The Oval.

In-form Jason Roy clubbed a vicious 79 from just 46 balls for the home side, as he helped the hosts easily chase down their required total of 156.

Sri Lankan opener Tillakaratne Dilshan also made 46, as Surrey reached their target with 13 balls to spare on a warm summer’s evening in South London.

Earlier, Darren Stevens (56 not out) and Fabian Cowdrey (55) had impressed with the bat for Kent, who, after a difficult start, posted what looked like a respectable 155-4 from their 20 overs.

All-rounder Stevens captained Kent for the first time in his career, with usual skipper Rob Key absent with a tight hamstring. However, even with him top-scoring for his side in his usual, swashbuckling style, he was unable to help them avoid the loss.

Cowdrey, opening in place of his captain, impressed with his all-round efforts, and was a bright note on an otherwise difficult night for Kent. After making his career-best T20 score, he also impressed with the ball, taking 1-20 with his slow left-armers, as the Surrey batsmen went after the Kent attack.

The defeat dealt a further blow to Kent’s hopes of a quarter final place in the competition. Having won three of their first four T20 matches, they have now failed to win in the last five, with this defeat by far the heaviest of the lot.

The Spitfires innings did not get off to the best of starts, with Daniel Bell-Drummond (4) bowled around his legs by Dilshan in the game’s very first over, and Sam Northeast (2) caught by Roy in the third; the Surrey opener cleverly throwing up the catch back to himself on the boundary.

Alex Blake joined Cowdrey at the crease as the pair attempted to rebuild the innings after the two early wickets, and had moved the score to 60 before Blake was bowled by Gareth Batty in the ninth over for 15.

Cowdrey was then joined by Stevens, and the pair looked like taking Kent to a competitive total, adding 62 together for the fourth wicket.

Third-generation cricketer Cowdrey, playing in his first T20 of the 2014 season, passed 50 with his stand-in skipper at the other end. It was a mature and impressive innings from the 21-year-old, who made the second T20 half-century of his career, bringing up the landmark from 40 balls.

He went for a career-best 54 before being run out after a mix up, while Stevens too passed 50 not long afterwards; his 35-ball knock featuring 10 superb boundaries.

When Kent eventually closed their innings on 155-4, the total looked decent enough, although with Surrey boasting one of the most dangerous T20 batting lineups in the country, it was always likely to be tough to protect.

As it was, Kent were behind from the very first ball of the home side’s innings; Roy hitting Adam Riley for six as Surrey stepped on the gas immediately. They took 15 off the first over as Roy in particular launched an assault on the Kent bowlers in the early stages.

The Kent attack was blasted to all parts of The Oval, as 23-year-old South African-born Roy added further weight to his burgeoning reputation with a fantastic, aggressive knock.

After their six powerplay overs, Surrey had raced to 79-0,  and Roy had already registered his half-century, the landmark coming from an incredible 25 balls, and featuring 10 boundaries.

Along with Dilshan, Roy had added 118 for the first wicket when he holed out to Northeast on the deep square leg boundary as he attempted to slog-sweep Riley. His 79 was a magnificent display of power hitting, with an inexperienced Kent side having no answers to his aggression.

His dismissal brought Kevin Pietersen to the crease, and the former-England batsman made an unbeaten 16 to help see his side home.

Cowdrey picked up the impressive wicket of Dilshan (46) before the home side cruised to victory, captain Gary Wilson edging the winning runs in the 18th over.

The Spitfires now host Hampshire at Canterbury on Friday night, where they will be hoping to get their NatWest T20 Blast campaign back on track.

 

Surrey vs. Kent Spitfires, NatWest T20 Blast, South Group, The Oval, London, 2 June 2014:

Surrey 156-2 (Roy 79, Dilshan 46) beat Kent Spitfires 155-4 (Stevens 56*, Cowdrey 55) by eight wickets

 

Surrey: Roy, Dilshan, Pietersen, Davies, Wilson*†, Mahmood, O’Brien, Peterson, Ansari, Batty, Curran

Kent Spitfires: Bell-Drummond, Cowdrey, Northeast, Blake, Stevens*, Billings†, Ball, Harmison, Tredwell, Claydon, Riley

Surrey won the toss and elected to field

Full scorecard available here

 

Pictures supplied by www.sarahansellphotography.com