Kent Spitfires (127-9) lost to Surrey (159-6) by 32 runs at Canterbury in T20 Blast

Vitality Blast champions Kent Spitfires fell to their fifth defeat in five group matches, losing by 32 runs to Surrey at Canterbury on Friday night.

It was a comprehensive and fully deserved win for the visitors, who smothered Kent’s run chase and shared the wickets around, with all six bowlers claiming at least one victim.

Reece Topley had Surrey’s best figures with 3-24, while Chris Jordan took 2-27. Joe Denly made 44 at less than a run a ball for Kent, but lacked any real support.

Sam Curran was Surrey’s top scorer with 43 in 34 balls while Overton hit three sixes to add 27 not out in 11 balls at the death as Surrey added 59 runs in the last six overs of their innings.

Fred Klaassen took 2-41 and Grant Stewart 2-42, but both should have had more wickets as an improved fielding performance by Kent was still marred by a number of drops.

Kent opted to bowl first and made an early breakthrough when Will Jacks fell for two in the second over, an ugly swipe off Klaassen flying off the top edge before it was caught by Denly.

Jason Roy made 23 before he was bowled by Stewart, while Curran, who’d offered Sam Billings a difficult chance off Qais Ahmad when he was on 35, misjudged a sweep shot and was caught by Klaassen off Matt Milnes as Surrey reached 84-3 in the 11th over.

Sunil Narine hit the first six of the innings when he pulled Grant Stewart over square leg at the start of the 14th over, but as Surrey looked to accelerate, Laurie Evans was lbw to a Klaassen yorker for 19 and Narine hit Stewart to Denly at long on. He was caught for 25, but Stewart was denied a third wicket when Jordan Clark was dropped by Jack Leaning.

Overton hit Klaassen for successive sixes in the final over and was then dropped by Daniel