Kent (278 & 141) lost to Surrey (362 & 58-0) by 10 wickets in County Championship Division 1 at The Oval

Kent head coach Matt Walker cut a frustrated figure after they quickly succumbed to a 10-wicket defeat at Surrey in the LV= County Championship on Saturday.

After losing three wickets in the last 15 balls of day two, Kent lost two more top-order batsmen within the first four overs of day three and never looked like dragging the game out to after lunch.

“I think probably the last three overs last night when we lost three wickets was the big difference in this match,” said Walker.

“Up until then we were right in the game but to go from 78-1, after Tawanda Muyeye and Zak Crawley had batted really well, to 80-4 at the close of play was when things changed.

“It’s a very disappointing loss but Tom Lawes was outstanding with the ball this morning and it was a bit of a procession in the end.

“That’s very frustrating for us because it’s been a pattern of the season so far. We play well in patches but then have a period where we lose a few wickets quickly or bowl poorly for a spell.

“In this match we fought hard to get ourselves back in it with the bat in the first innings and got a reasonable total on the board, and then we had them 200-7 and we were actually looking at perhaps getting a first innings lead.

“But Sean Abbott batted very well and Gus Atkinson came in to take it away from us and they ended up getting a bigger lead than we would have liked.

“Tawanda and Zak were outstanding to get us back almost level last night, before those three late wickets. It all happened very quickly, last night and then this morning, and so it’s a tough defeat to take even though Surrey are obviously a very strong side, the champions and top of Division One again in this first part of this season.”

Tom Lawes finished with a career-best 5-22