Jason Roy, Clark powers Surrey to dominant win over Kent

Jason Roy's unbeaten half-century guided Surrey to a nine-wicket victory over Kent Spitfires, keeping his team firmly in contention for the T20 Blast's knockout stages.

After Kent's pathetic performance with the bat, Surrey raced to 106 for 1 in just nine overs to win, having been bowled out for a paltry 102 with three overs remaining.

Roy made it a week to remember, following up an unbeaten hundred against Sussex on Wednesday night with a measured 50 not out as Surrey romped home with more than 11 overs to spare to stay firmly in the hunt near the top of the South Group. Any sliver of hope Kent had of making it to the next round of the tournament was firmly dashed by defeat.

Josh Phillippe and Roy added 63 after Laurie Evans hit a brisk 25. Roy was the only Surrey wicket to fall as they cruised to their fourth consecutive victory in the competition.

Kent were bowled out for 102 in just 17 overs, and they were blown away with the bat.

If there was anything memorable about a dismal night with the bat for Kent, it was the nature of two freak wickets. Ekansh Singh will never forget his T20 Blast debut when he stepped on his stumps to catch a Jordan Clark short ball. Until Ollie Pope went to get a throw-in to the stumps, nobody in the ground seemed to notice.

The innings veered off course and came to a comical end as a result of a poor bat performance. At the non-striker's end, Harry Finch was run out after lifting his bat to avoid a drive from Matt Milnes that missed Sean Abbott and went on to hit the stumps.

As the visitors kept their foot on the neck of the Kent batters and never let go, the innings was the story of poor shots, odd dismissals, and tight Surrey bowling.

Clark took 3 for 26 in a dominant Surrey attack, supported by Chris Jordan's miserable 2 for 5 in three overs. Dan Lawrence twirled away with two wickets, while Reece Topley and Sean Abbott both picked up a wicket apiece.

Kent, in fact, never really took off. While Daniel Bell-Drummond, Finch, and Jake Lintott all reached double digits, Zak Crawley's 31 off 19 balls appeared to be enough to withstand the Surrey assault.