Kent Women & Kent Spitfires began the 2026 Vitality Blast Summer at the St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury with a T20 Double Header against Sussex Sharks Women & Sussex Sharks.
Kent Spitfires welcome Essex to the St Lawrence Ground under lights on 29 May.
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Kent Women vs. Sussex Sharks Women
Match report supplied by Ben Holliday, Kent Sports News
Amy Gordon stars with a blistering 70 as Kent women defeat Sussex by nine wickets at the St Lawrence Ground.
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In the first game of a T20 Blast Double Header on a sweltering bank holiday Monday, Kent’s bowlers managed to restrict Sussex to 130 for 6 on what looked to be a flat pitch. Mollie Adams top-scored with 57*, while Gordon and Hollie Young picked up two wickets each.
The Kent reply was swift and clinical as Gordon hit a rapid 70 from 46 balls, including ten fours and two sixes, while Coco Streets batted more sedately for a well-made 48* from 40 balls to see Kent home.
Having won the toss and elected to bat, Sussex were immediately given a lifeline as Izzy Collis was dropped at mid-off while still on 0.
The visitors had a solid powerplay, scoring 37 runs without loss in the opening six overs. Mollie Adams was the main aggressor, striking consecutive fours from Zeena Bilal’s opening over.
Kent got their first wicket in the eighth over as Collis was caught by Izzy James for 15 off Hollie Young’s bowling.
Adams continued to be Sussex’s main threat with the bat as she scored with relative ease, but she was dropped twice in the space of two overs by James and Bilal.
After ten overs, Sussex had reached 60 for 1 and were well set to increase the scoring rate.
James picked up the wicket of Shistri Patil for 7, caught by Young.
Adams reached her 50 with a scoop over fine leg in the 15th over, which brought up her second half century in as many matches.
After a few expensive overs, Amy Gordon was reintroduced into the attack and picked up two wickets. Bella Johnson was clean bowled for 10, then Adams was stumped for 57.
Chiara Green played a brief cameo, hitting 19 from 11 deliveries, including three fours in James’ final over, before she was bowled by Young in the 19th over.
Gorham delivered an impeccable final over for Kent. She conceded a single from the first ball, followed by the wicket of Darcey Clarke, caught and bowled, then four consecutive dot balls.
Sussex ended their innings on 130-6, which seemed under-par given the conditions.
The Kent chase began with some rapid scoring from Gordon in the powerplay. She hit six fours and two huge sixes over long-on and square-leg as Kent made 57 without loss in the first six overs. Streets provided good support, scoring at quicker than a run a ball with two fours.
Gordon reached her half-century in the eighth over from 31 balls. The Kent run-rate was above 9 and Sussex were looking deflated in the bank holiday heat.
After ten overs, Kent were 90 without loss with Gordon and Streets on 63* and 25* respectively. Kent needed 40 runs for victory from 60 balls.
After completing their century stand, Kent lost their first wicket in the 12th over as Gordon fell for 70, caught and bowled by Bella Johnson for 70 from 46 balls.
Streets and new batter Kelly Castle comfortably knocked off the required runs with Streets hitting a four through cover to reach 132-1 in the 16th over. Streets ended on 48* with Castle on 11* as Kent brought up their first Blast win of the season.
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Kent Spitfires vs. Sussex Sharks
Match report supplied by Fred Atkins, ECB Reporters Network, supported by Rothesay
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A wonderful 75 by Zak Crawley helped the Kent Spitfires to a seven-wicket win over Sussex in a high-scoring, if controversial, Vitality Blast game at Canterbury.
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Crawley was on 53 when Sussex’s Tom Clark claimed he’d caught him off Tymal Mills in the 17th. Crawley refused to walk, was given not out by the umpires and then hit three sixes in the 18th over to take Kent to the brink of victory.
Clark had earlier made a blistering 79 from 29 deliveries, including six sixes and nine fours, but after racing to 122 for one at halfway, Sussex slowed drastically in the second half of the innings, with South African all-rounder Dian Forrester took three for 25 on his Kent debut.
Forrester then sealed a stellar debut by hitting the winning runs with 10 balls to spare, creaming Mills for four.
The visitors had made a stunning start after choosing to bat: Clark hit 22 off the fourth over, from Matt Milnes, and reached 50 off just 20 deliveries. Tom Rogers’ sixth over went for 30, leaving Sussex on 92 without loss at the end of the powerplay.
Kent’s other debutant, Bertie Foreman, struck when Clark pulled him to Tawanda Muyeye on the midwicket boundary and Forrester, claimed a wicket with his third delivery when Daniel Hughes drove him to Daniel Bell-Drummond at extra cover for 26.
Forrester’s next over was a double-wicket maiden. He got John Simpson for four, when he chipped him to Joe Denly, before he caught and bowled Tom Alsop off the next ball.
Jack Leaning blocked the hat-trick ball, but Sussex slowed to 149 for four after 15.
Milnes then got James Coles for 28, caught at backward square by Jake Lintott.
Danny Lamb did some damage in the 19th, hitting Fred Klaassen for 17 from the first four balls, but after taking a single from the fifth, Leaning pulled Klaassen to Muyeye at midwicket and was caught for 30. And when Milnes limited Sussex to just four off the last over it felt like the hosts had given themselves a chance.
They suffered a blow when Muyeye fell for 26 at the end of the fourth, caught and bowled by Henry Crocombe.
Daniel Bell-Drummond was on 27 when he was hit on the shoulder by a violent Crawley drive and although he was cleared to continue, he’d added just two more when he miscued Danny Briggs to Tymal Mills at backward point.
Crawley rode his luck at times. Simpson missed the chance to stump him off Lamb when he was on nine but Fynn Hudson-Prentice then got Sam Billings for 28, miscuing him to Lamb.
Alsop palmed a difficult chance to catch Crawley over the boundary for six when he was on 42 and he took a single from Briggs to pass 50.
Kent needed 40 from the last four but controversy flared in the 17th when Crawley pulled Mills to Clark at midwicket. Sussex claimed the catch but Crawley, who was on 53, stood his ground and the umpires gave him the benefit of the doubt.
He was booed by Sussex supporters when he then smashed Lamb back over his head for six, but any abuse was drowned out by cheers when he then smashed Lamb over cow corner for another maximum, before hitting him for another six straight back over his head.
Suddenly Kent only needed two from the last two overs and Forrester obliged by pulling Mills through for four.
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Kent’s Dian Forrester said: “I loved every moment of it. The fans were amazing. As you’re walking out, you try and soak every moment out of it, so, yeah, I just loved every second of it, and it was great win for the team.
“Clark played very, very well, but Sam kept telling us it’s a good wicket and to stay in it. Luckily, I
think Jake (Lintott) bowled very, very well there in the middle and brought it back nicely for us.
(On his double-wicket maiden)
“Yeah, it’s always nice contributing. That’s the benefit of being an all-rounder. I love it. So, yeah, it was a good little momentum switch there. I don’t think I’ve bowled a lot of double wicket maidens in T20s before.
(On the chase)
“I think it was just taking it ball by ball. Luckily, the one side feels like it’s sloping down, so, the left-right combination worked very nicely. I took on this side and he took on the other side. We just bounced off each other, which is always so good and when I was speaking to Tommo, our analyst, he kept saying in the last six you could actually catch up very quickly, so, there was never any panic.
(On Batting with Crawley)
“It was awesome. Obviously, I watched him a lot on TV playing test match cricket. So, to be out there with him was so nice. And it just shows you, like, the composure he has and, like, all the experience he has from playing, like, at the top level.”
