Kent Spitfires produced an outstanding bowling display as they got back to winning ways in style on Sunday.
Spitfires stuffed Surrey by eight wickets at The Oval after bowling out their hosts for just 116 to record their third win in four T20 Blast group games.
Spitfires made three changes from the side defeated by Essex on Friday night. Keith Dudgeon made his T20 bow for the county with Harry Finch given a first outing of the summer and Chris Benjamin was also restored to the line-up. Out went Tawanda Muyeye, Matt Parkinson and Tom Rogers.
A lively opening over from Dudgeon prompted Will Jacks to walk down the wicket and loop a simple catch to Jake Lintott for a three-ball duck.
Dudgeon went for successive boundaries to Ollie Pope in his next over but Spitfires struck when Matt Milnes switched ends. Pope tried to loft him over mid-on but couldn’t clear Fred Klaassen and departed for 10, leaving Surrey 26-2 in the fifth.
Dudgeon switched ends to bowl his third over in the powerplay but was greeted by a huge six from Sam Curran. Dudgeon thought he had Roy caught behind attempting a hook on 15 when he appeared to glove the ball through to Sam Billings. The umpire, like Roy, was unmoved and Surrey reached 40-2 at the end of the powerplay.
Lintott struck in his first over, Curran falling to a tremendous catch coming in from deep mid-wicket by Finch for 14.
It was spin at both ends as Joe Denly came into the attack and nearly removed Roy, but Dudgeon was unable to hold on in the covers.
Roy’s luck finally ran out at the start of the next over as he drove Lintott to Klaassen at mid-on for 18, leaving Surrey 47-4 in the ninth over, which ended up being a wicket maiden.
Evans, so often Kent’s nemesis, sent a Lintott full toss to Dian Forrester, making just four from 11 balls, to leave Surrey 53-5 at the start of the 11th over.
Tom Curran hit a six and a four in Lintott’s final over, denting his excellent figures to 3-19. Denly’s four wicketless overs cost 21 runs, as Spitfires stifled Surrey’s progress in the middle overs.
Surrey were 97-5 with four overs left but that became 97-6 when Tom Curran slapped Klaassen to Dudgeon for 32.
It was two wickets in three balls as Dan Lawrence (16) found the safe hands of Forrester on the mid-wicket boundary.
Jordan Clark was run out in the penultimate over for five, being sent back after looking to run a second that was never there to the arm of Finch.
The next ball saw Klaassen drop a stinging one-handed caught and bowled chance off Tom Lawes, but he was alert enough to run out Reece Topley at the non-striker’s end without facing a delivery.
Kent’s pace bowling was just as good as the spinners. Milnes collected 1-22 and Klaassen 2-30 while Dudgeon (2-22) bowled the final over of the innings, collecting the wicket of Yousef Majid for one as Surrey were all out for just 117.
Finch joined Daniel Bell-Drummond at the start of Kent’s reply. Having driven a straight four off Topley, Finch hit Tom Curran’s first two balls for four and six, the latter a lovely pick up over mid-wicket.
Bell-Drummond (7) was bowled by a Lawes yorker in the fourth over, leaving Spitfires 26-1. That was 29-2 when Crawley slapped Topley high to mid-off in the next over to depart for just two. Spitfires progressed to 37-2 at the end of the powerplay with Finch well set on 24.
The composed Finch pulled Lawes through mid-wicket for four and then Billings’ ramp off Clark brought up the Kent fifty in the eighth over.
Surrey didn’t turn to the spin of Majid until the ninth over but his final delivery was put to the fence by Finch as Spitfires were more than halfway to their target.
Lawes (1-34) switched ends but the impressive Billings hit three boundaries in the over as Kent raced to 76-2 after 10 overs, needing just 41 more for victory.
Billings and Finch’s fifty partnership came up in six overs while the former staked his claim for a regular spot in the side by reaching his half-century off 36 balls with a reverse sweep off Lawrence for four.
Finch lofted Majid over cover for four to bring the required runs down to single digits. Billings drove the spinner straight down the ground and repeated the trick from the next ball to complete an emphatic victory.
Finch finished unbeaten on 64 off 42 balls with eight fours and a six while Billings was 42 not out with six boundaries in his 28-ball knock.
