Kent Spitfires (173-5) suffer last-ball T20 South group game loss to Surrey (174-5) by five wickets in Canterbury

Kent Spitfires suffered a last-ball defeat in their latest T20 Blast group game against Surrey - being beaten by five wickets at Canterbury on Sunday.

Sean Abbott again was one of the Surrey heroes. Jamie Smith scored the run they needed off the final ball and ended not out on 49 while Abbott was unbeaten on 21 off 14 balls in front of a healthy crowd in the sunshine.

Spitfires skipper Sam Billings said: “We probably just leaked a couple of boundaries at the end there when the rate was getting up to about 12-an-over.

“They’re such small margins. It was a great game of cricket which, unfortunately, we have come out on the wrong side of.

“Both innings were pretty similar, which kind of said what the pitch was like.

“Jamie Smith played a really good knock and they found the boundary when they needed to at the end.”

Billings had won the toss and elected to bat first.

From the first ball, there was plenty of excitement. Tawanda Muyeye edged spinner Will Jacks (3-28) to third man for two and nearly got involved in a mix-up with opening partner Daniel Bell-Drummond.

But 22-year-old Muyeye was bowled by Jacks off the last ball of the first over for nine, having sent the previous delivery through the covers for the first boundary.

The third over, Abbott’s only over (0-13), saw Joe Denly deliver the first maximum after he had sent the ball before into a similar area in the legside for four.

Spitfires moved to 50 inside the fifth over. But Jacks again struck with the last ball of the fifth over as he bowled Denly for a 15-ball 27, the home side 54-2 at the end of the powerplay.

That brought Billings in. He and Bell-Drummond manoeuvred the ball well to help Kent reach 71, only for the latter to pick out Abbott for 25 in the ninth