Kent Spitfires registered their first win of the 2020 T20 Blast as they beat oldest rivals Surrey by five wickets on Tuesday.
An unbeaten 42 from 31 balls from the returning Heino Kuhn helped the hosts chase down 162 with nine balls remaining after Surrey posted 161/4, also aided by an unbeaten 21 from Grant Stewart, part of an unbroken partnership of 48 with Kuhn, and 32 from Zak Crawley.
Kent captain Daniel Bell-Drummond won the toss for the third time in a row this tournament and opted to once again chase, meaning Surrey were put into bat first. There were two changes to the Kent team from the tie with Middlesex at the weekend, as the returning Heino Kuhn and Tim Groenewald replaced Ollie Robinson and Calum Haggett, with Jordan Cox keeping wicket, whilst Surrey swapped Jamie Smith and James Taylor for Hasim Amla and Reece Topley.
Kent opened the innings with spin in the form of Alex Blake, and Hashim Amla showed his class straight away with a four off his first ball. With 10 from the first over, Fred Klaassen opened from the other end and had an LBW appeal dismissed first ball, but he didn’t take long to strike as he had Will Jacks caught by Alex Blake at cover for just three.
Laurie Evans was the new man in and soon had a boundary to his name, but he was dismissed by debutant Tim Groenewald for nine, caught down the leg side by deputy wicketkeeper Jordan Cox.
Ben Foakes was in but soon out, bowled at the end of the same over by Groenewald for four, and Kent were in dreamland with Surrey reeling at 28/3.
England test opener Rory Burns was in at five and had an LBW appeal against him first ball turned down, and he then nearly ran himself out off the final ball of the over. Surrey were 39/3 at the end of the first powerplay, and Kent would definitely have been the happier of the two teams.
Burns began to settle and smashed Imran Qayyum’s first ball over the offside boundary for six to bring up Surrey’s 50, and the visitors were 70/3 at the halfway point of their innings – the partnership between Amla and Burns worth 42.
The 50 partnership was up when Amla saw a leg side slog off Klaassen parried over the boundary for six, and the pair continued to build slowly but surely.
The 100 came up at the end of the 14th over, and Amla’s 50 soon followed with a cut for four off the bowling of Matt Milnes. It came from 40 balls, so slow but steady, but he was still there going into the last stretch and that was the main thing at that stage.
The 100 partnership was then up between Amla and Burns, coming from 80 balls as Surrey really began to accelerate into the final overs. Burns’ 50 followed, coming from 44 balls – another steady innings, but one Surrey needed when he went to the crease.
Amla was run out for 75 in the final over following good work from Zak Crawley in the deep, bringing a partnership with Burns worth 127 to an end. New batsman Gus Atkinson cleared the rope off the final ball of the innings to help Surrey reach 161/4 after their allocation – Kent perhaps favourites at the halfway stage despite the partnership between Amla and Burns.
Zak Crawley and Daniel Bell-Drummond were soon making their ways out to the middle to start the Kent innings and face Reece Topley, a World T20 finalist with England back in 2016. It was an interesting start from Topley, conceding a wide, a leg byes, four byes and boundary from the opening over, but Matt Dunn would have gained confidence from the other end when Zak Crawley top edged the bowler’s first ball for four.
Despite losing Bell-Drummond for 25, caught by Will Jacks off the bowling of Matt Dunn, Kent rushed to 68/1 from the first powerplay, breaking the back of the chase early.
Soon after, though, Kent lost two quick wickets in the form of Zak Crawley (32) driving to Evans at mid-off and Blake (four) caught at mid-wicket by Topley – spinner Daniel Moriarty picking up both scalps.
Heino Kuhn and Jack Leaning were left to rebuild, and the two put on 33 from 3.5 overs, but Leaning was dismissed off the last ball of an expensive Scott Borthwick over for 21. New batsman Jordan Cox’s stay was short, LBW to Moriarty second ball after slapping his first for four, and that left Kent 114/5, still requiring 49 to win from seven-and-a-half overs.
Grant Stewart joined Kuhn in the middle and the two took the target below 30, then below 20, then 10.
Stewart drove the second ball of the 19th over for six over long off’s head, leaving Kent needing just two to win, and they got there off the very next ball, Stewart nudging Dunn for two to see his team over the line. He finished not out on 21, with Heino Kuhn the star of the innings, finishing not out on 42 from 31 balls after coming in at number three.
Kent: Crawley, Bell-Drummond (C), Kuhn, Blake, Leaning, Cox (WK), Stewart, Groenewald, Milnes, Klaassen, Qayyum.
Surrey: Amla, Jacks, Evans, Foakes (WK), Burns, Borthwick, Atkinson, Batty (C), Moriarty, Topley, Dunn.