Kent Spitfires v Surrey, team announcement & match preview

The Kent Spitfires continue their Friends Life t20 South Division campaign by hosting Surrey at The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence on Sunday afternoon, 30^th June, 3pm start.

The Spitfires got their Flt20 season off to a losing start at Canterbury on Friday night – despite four wickets on his debut for Vernon Philander.

The South African overseas player impressed in a rain affected game but the Middlesex Panthers took the points – winning a closely fought encounter with just two balls to spare.

The Team:

Kent name an unchanged 12-man team for the fixture: Tredwell ©, Key, Northeast, Billings (w), Stevens, Blake, Harmison, Riley, Claydon, Coles, Philander, Davies.

Players to watch:

All eyes will once again be on Vernon Philander after a superb start to life in Kent colours. The bowling all-rounder scored 13, off just seven balls, with the bat before returning fine figures of four for eight, from his three overs, with the ball.

Pre-match chat:

Kent skipper James Tredwell was, naturally, disappointed with the opening night defeat to Middlesex but still felt there were positives to take out of the game:

“We showed a lot of good things on Friday night. First off, we posted a reasonable total and I felt we went about it in a decent way. Then, with the ball, the majority of overs went well. After the game we looked back on it and felt we edged most of it. Sadly we fell short in that crucial last little phase and couldn’t quite get over the line. Still, a lot of what we did was good so we will focus on that going into Sunday.

“Surrey have recorded a win and a defeat from their two matches and we will aim to do the same with a victory on Sunday afternoon. Results do go for you and against you in Twenty20. We now need to turn things around and go forward with full focus on getting a win.

“The Club is running a ‘kids for a quid’ promotion and ticket sales are going well. The weather is going to be nice on Sunday so hopefully we will put on a show, in front of a good crowd, and encourage them to come back again and again to The Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence.”

Previous meetings:

The Kent Spitfires had the upper hand over Surrey last season, winning both matches. In June, at Beckenham, Kent got their Friends Life t20 campaign underway with a convincing eight-wicket success. Led by Rob Key, who hit an unbeaten 51, and Darren Stevens, whose 43 not out came off just 25 balls and included four sixes, the hosts reached their victory target with more than three overs to spare – after the visitors had stuttered to 116 for seven.

Then in July, at the Kia Oval, Kent held their nerve to complete the double. Rob Key once again impressed, playing carefully and skilfully in testing conditions. He scored 35 – the same score as Alex Blake. Azhar Mahmood, now back playing for Surrey, then used all his experience with the ball to return fine figures of three for 12 as the side from Kennington were dismissed for just 88 as Kent ran out winners by 48 runs.

To purchase tickets, and save £5.00on the pre-buy adult price (must be before 9pm Saturday 29 June), click here.