Kent Spitfires suffered a second defeat in as many games at the start of their Vitality Blast defence as they lost by four wickets to Essex on Friday.

After posting 184/4 from their 20 overs, Kent’s bowlers were again unable to defend their total – a feat they did so well during last year’s trophy-winning campaign – and Essex chased down the target with three balls remaining.

After Kent captain Sam Billings won the toss and again elected to bat, Zak Crawley picked up the first boundary of the game, pulling Daniel Sams fine for four as the Australian pitched a bit too straight early on.

Matt Critchley dropped Crawley at cover off the first ball of the second over, and Daniel Bell-Drummond cut the first ball of the third fine for his first boundary. The next ball, the same shot, the same result.

The duo continued to attack, and the 50 was up in the sixth over with Bell-Drummond’s fifth four.

60/0 was the score at the end of the powerplay, but Essex struck in the seventh over when Aron Nijjar found a way through Bell-Drummond’s defences to bowl him for 31.

Crawley tried to continue to press but he was LBW to Eagles captain Simon Harmer for 40, with spin proving to be difficult to put away in the middle overs.

The 100 was up for Kent in the 13^th over with a big six from Sam Billings as the Spitfires tried to accelerate, but the spinners continued to be economical, with Nijjar, Harmer and Matt Critchley all going at under seven an over up to that point.

Sams struck to dismiss Denly for 35 the ball after the former England man had hit him for six, and Wednesday’s hero Jack Leaning went for just two, chipping Critchley to Harmer at cover.

With Kent’s innings in danger of petering out, George Linde hammered a six down the ground off Harmer, and Billings did the same two balls later.

The 50 partnership passed in the final over with a four and a six from Billings, and 13 from the final over helped Kent to 184/4 from their 20 overs at the interval.

Adam Rossington hammered his second ball for six to get Essex’s reply underway, and a first over of 17 got the visitors off to a more-than-positive start.

Rossington slung Fred Klaassen for a huge six over the leg side boundary, but the Dutchman had the last laugh, cleaning up the Essex man for 29 the very next ball.

The 50 soon passed though, and the visitors were 66/1 at the end of the powerplay, having brought the required rate right down to 8.5.

George Linde struck when Michael Pepper slapped him to point for eight, and his spin partner Qais Ahmad backed him up in the next over to pick up Will Buttleman for 37.

The visitors reached 96/3 at the halfway stage, but Milnes stopped Matt Critchley as he was getting going – leg stump out the ground for 18.

Matt Quinn dropped Sams in what seemed to be the easiest catch one could possibly ask for, but the Australian didn’t make the most of his second life, pulling Klaassen to Leaning at deep square leg for three.

17 off the 16^th over swung the game back Essex’s way, and the required rate dropped drastically as the game entered the final few overs.

Brilliant work from Sam Billings ran out Tom Westley for 15, but it was too little too late, with Paul Walter anchoring Essex to an opening day victory, condemning Kent to back-to-back defeats to start to competition.

Essex’s Paul Walter said: “We’re delighted to get a win, it’s the first game in the competition and it’s always nice to get a win early doors. I’ve started well and I think the main thing when you’re coming into a new competition is you’re just trying to get through the first couple of games. To get a couple of wins on the board takes a lot of pressure off you going into the back end of the comp.

“The first six overs belonged to them when we were bowling but Nijjar and the spinners clawed it back brilliantly. They really put them under pressure and managed to keep them to a total that we could chase. 

“We felt like their total was around par. We knew from watching on Wednesday night that with it being a bit earlier in the season there’s a bit of dew, which obviously helps at the back end of the innings. We felt they were par or just under so we’re delighted to get the chase over the line.” 

Kent’s Sam Billings said:

“At one point they needed 11an over with five wickets down. You really should be closing games out like that so it’s disappointing if I’m honest, really disappointing because I felt like we had a decent score on the board and we’ve got the capability to defend that score. 

“I think it was a little bit of mis-execution, a little bit of getting back up to speed at Twenty20, the pace of play and just clarity around plans really. You do the simple things really well, you try and get the danger man to the short boundary off strike and bowl to the big side and we just weren’t able to do that tonight. 

“We’ve taken it to the 20^th over. I thought the character in the last game, where we didn’t have enough runs, to take that to the last over was exceptional. Tonight was more disappointing because we misexecuted  and didn’t quite play to how we can play.”  

Kent: Bell-Drummond, Crawley, Denly, Billings, Leaning, Cox, Linde, Qais, Milnes, Klaassen, Quinn.

Essex: Rossington, Buttleman, Pepper, Critchley, Walter, Westley, Sams, Harmer, Nijjar, Allison, S Cook.