Kent stand-in captain Daniel Bell-Drummond admitted there were mixed emotions in the camp after the rain robbed Kent of an opening day T20 Blast win on Thursday.

The Spitfires were 52/0 from four overs and one ball when rain brought a halt to proceedings in Canterbury, well on their way to chasing down Hampshire’s 139 and well ahead of any potential DLS score.

Bell-Drummond admitted his side were disappointed not to grab the win, but still pleased with their overall performance.

“We are pretty frustrated but overall very happy with where we are at as a team” said Bell-Drummond, who whacked an unbeaten 28 from 16 balls before play was stopped. “We were not able to get over the line because of the weather but we are very happy with the performance we put in, especially in the field.

“Starting with the bowling it was a brilliant performance, especially by Fred Klaassen and Matt Milnes. Props to them because we only had one training day getting used to the white ball again, so I was very happy with them and the other bowlers played their part as well, so it was a complete performance.”

Kent welcomed back England’s latest test centurion Zak Crawley for the game, and he hit 22 from 9 balls in Kent’s batting innings, including 16 from the opening over, partnering Bell-Drummond.

“Zak has been on cloud nine and he has had a brilliant few weeks” said Bell-Drummond

“It is great to have him back and he is showing his class. He has brought his England form back with him, so we are proud that he is back and performing for Kent.

“He showed what he was about straight away. He put them under pressure and coming off the back of a double hundred he is in a brilliant place and that showed in that first over.”

Bell-Drummond’s team will now travel to Lord’s to face Middlesex on Saturday. Kent’s hosts also had to settle for a point after their opening game against Essex was washed out, but they did post an impressive 184 from their 20 overs which included a Max Holden century.

“There are always challenges in the south group” said Bell-Drummond. “Middlesex are a very good team with a decent record. We will go there full of respect for them, but we know how good we can be, and we know that if we play our best game we will be fine.

“There were some brilliant signs today even though we did not get the full points. We were really happy with the performance and we just want to continue that. The games come thick and fast so hopefully we will keep the momentum going at Lord’s.

“We have done pretty well over the last three or four years. We are missing Sam [Billings] and Joe [Denly] who are with England, but we still have a very strong side and a couple of new faces.

“Matt Milnes didn’t play much T20 last year, but he showed his class and with the bat with have so many options – it will be brilliant to see Jordan Cox in this format and we welcome back Alex Blake, so we’re very confident and are looking forward to the rest of the competition.”