Skipper Sam Billings really saw what Kent means to their fans again as they booked their T20 Vitality Blast quarter-final place in dramatic style on Friday night.
Spitfires had to beat Essex in front of a crowd of more than 5,000 in Canterbury to stand any chance of qualifying from the South group – and did so as they earned a seven-wicket win, largely thanks to half-centuries from opener Tawanda Muyeye and Harry Finch in a 114-run second-wicket partnership.
But Kent still needed Surrey to beat Sussex Sharks for them to seal a last-eight berth and, with their own match finished, head coach Adam Hollioake and his players watched the conclusion of that game on a big screen on their own pitch. Thousands of supporters also stayed behind to watch the culmination of the encounter in Hove.
And Surrey held their nerve as they edged home by seven runs, with skipper Sam Curran and Chris Jordan doing the business at the death. Kent will visit North group winners Lancashire on Saturday, September 6, in their quarter-final.
Billings said: “(It was) playing two games in one evening, wasn’t it? Firstly, I’m incredibly proud of how the lads played.
“It was a pressure game, of course, so we knew we had to win at the very least. The way we played, it was a really resounding performance and a commanding performance.
“To see Harry Finch play like that, I thought he was incredible.
Match report as Kent beat Essex and reach Blast quarter-final
“We’ve seen him develop as a player and as a person over the last few weeks but it’s kind of been a long journey for him. He’s a great guy and works so hard at his game.
“To see him get his rewards, that was really pleasing. We know with Tawanda the talent he possesses. He loves playing against Essex in this format of the game.
“We know how they can play as a pair and they did all the work, really, and got the job done. It was just a brilliant performance.
“Then, I’ve never wanted Surrey to win so much!
“A couple of my mates got the job done, as well, in Sammy Curran with a couple of bits of magic in the penultimate over and then Chris Jordan. There’s not many other people you would want, bowling that last over.
“The thing that struck me when we were watching on the big screen on the outfield afterwards was just seeing how many people stayed around, watching the big screen together.
“I’ve been at the club since the age of eight. It means a heck of a lot to me but, also, you see how many people it means a lot to.
“It’s a close-knit club. The fans are very passionate.
“Even when things are not going well, they stick by us as a side and that was really special, seeing the result of the Surrey v Sussex game and seeing how many people stayed around.”
Ironically, victory against surprise South group basement boys Essex, backing up last weekend’s seven-wicket win over Middlesex in Canterbury, was the first time inconsistent Kent have strung consecutive Blast wins together this summer.
“This is no disrespect to the two teams we have played against but, if you can’t beat the bottom-end teams towards the back-end of the group stages, you don’t deserve to go through,” admitted wicketkeeper-batsman Billings. “We haven’t played our best cricket.
“We struggled to get into it after the four-day games. But Joey Evison’s knock at Sussex really changed our fortunes and then the two back-to-back wins now. It’s very special.
“It’s a tough group to get out of and we’ve done really well to do that.”
Kent’s only switch from their victory over Middlesex saw Daniel Bell-Drummond replace Chris Benjamin.
While it was apparent the 31-year-old batsman hadn’t fully recovered from his hamstring injury, he helped put on a 46-run opening partnership with Muyeye to set the platform after Essex had been restricted to 172-6.
Billings, 34, said: “I’ve known Daniel since the age of eight. I just told him he was playing!
“He’s such a quality player and he’s been so consistent for us. When you look at a team sheet and see Daniel Bell-Drummond’s name there, I think everyone’s confidence goes up.
“He didn’t get going but the fact is, whenever we have played well, they have just set up a really good foundation without losing early wickets. You can lose the game in the powerplay but you can’t really win the game in the powerplay.
“Getting off to a really solid start – knowing we have got Finchy, then Joe (Denly) and myself with a lot of power down the back-end, as well – we know, if we have got a platform, we can really go.
“Even though he didn’t get the runs, he played a real part.”
Essex themselves had been in a strong position against Spitfires after the powerplay.
But leg-spinner Matt Parkinson and all-rounder Joe Evison, much like they had done for most of the campaign, tightened the screw in the middle overs. They returned identical figures of 1-22 against Essex.
On Parkinson, Billings revealed: “The challenge for him has always been left-handers, especially with the slope here. That did take a little bit of getting used to but he’s finding a way.
“Against right-handers, when there’s a bit of turn on offer, you can see he’s absolutely class.
“It was brilliant for them to lock in eight overs for 44 runs. I felt there was no need to break it up and just decided to keep going with it until they got hit.
“I thought the pair of them were brilliant and they really changed the game because they easily could have got 200, which would have been tough.”
Kent return to red-ball action against Glamorgan in Cardiff from Tuesday while Billings will aim to lead Oval Invincibles to a third straight victory in The Hundred competition next month.
