Variety was the key for Joey Evison after he picked up three wickets for Kent Spitfires on Sunday.

Evison returned figures of 3-31 in four overs but was unable to get Kent across the line at Hampshire Hawks in their second Vitality Blast match of the season.

The 22-year-old removed destructive openers Ben McDermott and James Vince as well as Nick Gubbins in his haul, only for the hosts to claim a three-wicket win in a tight finish.

“I bowled really nicely,” said Evison. “I felt like my change of pace worked really nicely.

“I got a couple of wickets in (my first) over which changed the game but the way they came back was a credit to them.

“I got three really big players out so I was just showing my passion for the game (with my celebration). It’s always nice to get big players out.

“I’ve worked on a couple of slower balls, I bowled a couple of knuckle balls and just tried to keep the stumps in play.

“I watched how Benny Howell bowled in their overs and tried to pretty much do what he did really. He’s done it for so long and showed what a great bowler he is today.

“I’ve got a defined role in the side bowling-wise in those middle overs, and also with the bat, coming in towards the end.”

Evison felt the game was decided in the death overs as Kent were pegged back at the end of their innings while Hampshire managed to get over the line when the game, at one stage, seemed beyond them.

“We felt that it all came down to the death in both innings,” added the Kent all-rounder. “We were 30 or 40 for six in the death period and they got 60-plus runs.

“I thought we were right in it to the very end, we controlled the game nicely. To keep them under 45 in the powerplay having not taken a wicket was a great effort on a really nice batting wicket. To come out on the wrong side of it is not a nice feeling.

“It was one of those wickets where the slower balls were stopping and it was quite hard to get hold of them.

“James Fuller and Benny Howell batted well, as did Joe Weatherley to be fair. We controlled the game and it all happened in the last four or five overs really.

“We controlled the rate as much as we could, got the rate above 10 for most of the innings but Fuller just took it away from us at the end.”

It’s one win and one defeat so far for the Spitfires, who have shown plenty of promise in the first two games of the competition.

Report: Kent Spitfires lose to Hampshire Hawks by three wickets

“We’ve shown nice glimpses of cricket (so far),” said Evison. “We had a complete performance against Middlesex and we showed some nice cricket in this one but couldn’t get it over the line.

“There’s still 12 games to go in the competition, it’s about peaking at the right time but it would have been nice to win this one away from home.”

Kent Spitfires return to action against holders Somerset at Canterbury on Friday night (6.30pm)