Kent Spitfires got their T20 season off to a losing start at Canterbury on Friday night despite 4 wickets on his debut for Vernon Philander.

The South African was unable to stop the Spitfires from throwing away what seemed like a great chance to get their campaign off to a win in the rain affected game with the Panthers winning with two balls to spare.

It was Middlesex that won the toss and elected to bowl first with the weather forecast looking ominous and in the end it was an inspired move as they won the game coming from behind.

It was a decent enough start for the Spitfires with Rob Key and Sam Northeast happy to pick off the bad balls, but Key will rue his dismissal for 13 as he came down the wicket and edged Kyle Mills through to Adam Rossington behind the stumps, leaving Kent 29 for 1 at the end of the 4th over.

With Sam Billings preferred in the side ahead of the experienced Geraint Jones, the wicketkeeper batsman had only been out in the middle for an over when the umpires converged and called the players off with Kent 36 for 1 off 5 overs.

After a delay of over an hour, Kent resumed at 8:40pm with the game reduced to 15 overs per side.

With the game reduced, Billings took his chance after having been put down by Tim Murtagh off Ollie Rayner’s bowling, smashing two boundaries in the seventh over as the Spitfires batsmen began to open their shoulders.

Searching for the boundary one time more, Billings was to pick out Josh Davey on the long on boundary as he tried to launch Ollie Rayner out of the ground, falling for 26 off just 19 balls.

Northeast was to fall shortly after for 22 as he nicked former Kent player Neil Dexter behind to Rossington who was up to the stumps.

With 75 on the board, three wickets down and five overs to go, Darren Stevens and Alex Blake looked to push on the rate, but the latter was given out stumped by Rossington for just one as he attempted to nick a single that was never there.

As ever, Darren Stevens was in devastating form smashing 26 off just 10 balls before holing out on the boundary looking for yet another maximum with Kiwi Kyle Mills clinging onto the catch.

By that point the Spitfires had already past 100 and it brought new signing Vernon Philander to the crease for the first time in a Kent shirt.

The South African fast bowler proved to be more than useful with the bat too as he and Ben Harmison took the score on to 129 for 5 at the end of Kent’s 15 overs with Philander playing a Dilshan scoop down to the boundary off the last ball of the innings.

With some scrabbling around, the umpires came up with a victory target of 132 for Middlesex to win after consulting Mr Duckworth and Mr Lewis.

It couldn’t have been a better start for Vernon Philander with the ball in his hand. After three unplayable balls, Paul Stirling found his stumps rearranged for the fourth with the South African picking up a wicket maiden for his first over in a Kent shirt.

After a slight delay for a problem with one of the floodlights, Philander picked up where he left off with some hostile fast bowling with former Kent opener Joe Denly unable to deal with his raw pace.

In the end the pressure told as Denly slashed at a wider ball that Sam Billings did well to pouch to give Philander his second wicket of the night.

No sooner had Australian Adam Voges got to the wicket to face his inevitable fate too and the heavens opened once again with the rain lashing down.

Set a revised target of 111 to get in 12 overs, Dawid Malan had a real let off when on 17 with Stevens finding the edge of the bat, but James Tredwell couldn’t take the catch as he dived full length at slip.

Malan was to last just a few balls more though as Philander picked up his third wicket of the night with the Middlesex batsman finding Mitch Claydon on the boundary rope.

It got even better for Kent fans as later that over Voges drilled the ball to Stevens at mid off for 2 leaving Middlesex 27 for 4 at the end of the 5th over.

One blitzing over from Neil Dexter off James Tredwell took sixteen runs off the target with two maximums and four byes helping the cause, but trying to smash Stevens, the former Kent man only succeeded in hitting the ball a long way up into the air and Billings took the catch despite the ball swirling around in the rain.

Gareth Berg was to hole out for two on the long on boundary as he tried to smash Tredwell with Ben Harmison taking a fine diving catch.

With 36 still needed off the last three overs, Matt Coles was introduced into the attack and Rossington was into him straight away clearing the rope and off the next ball Northeast spilled a catch that came out of the floodlights.

Seventeen runs were to come off that over with Josh Davey climbing into a short ball off the last one of the over.

Rossington and Davey were content to see the game to within eleven runs off the final over and in the end they were able to make it to their victory target with two balls to spare with Matt Coles unable to exert the control needed.

Kent will go away and lick their wounds after losing this game, but have very little time to dwell on things with Surrey coming to Canterbury on Sunday afternoon for the next fixture.

 

Middlesex won the toss and elected to bowl.

Kent Spitfires side: Key, Northeast, Billings, Stevens, Harmison, Blake, Tredwell, Coles, Claydon, Philander, Riley.

Middlesex side: Stirling, Malan, Denly, Voges, Dexter, Rossington, Berg, Davey, Rayner, Murtagh, Mills.

Result: Kent 129 for 5 (15 overs), Middlesex 111 for 6 (11.4 overs). Middlesex won by 4 wickets (D/L method).

Picture supplied by www.sarahansellphotography.com