Kent Spitfires suffered their second defeat in this season's Royal London One-Day Cup when they were comfortably beaten by Middlesex at Radlett on Friday.

After being set a target of 261 for victory, the visitors were bowled out for 173, leaving Middlesex victors by 87 runs.

Sam Billings (68) did his best to get them close but the next top score was Daniel Bell-Drummond's 23 as several batsmen got set without being able to build a significant innings on a slow but blameless pitch.

Middlesex spinner Ollie Rayner bowled the game's decisive spell, claiming the wicket of Billings on his way to figures of 4-45 from 10 overs as Kent lost their last five wickets for just 16 runs.

The defeat was Kent's second in three matches and leaves them with just one win to show from their opening four fixtures after the opening game with Essex was washed out.

After winning the toss Middlesex made a cautious start with Sam Robson and Dawid Malan adding 25 before Robson was trapped leg before, in the ninth over, by Mitch Claydon for 15.

Nick Compton made 17 from 23 balls before he fell leg before to James Tredwell, with the total at 71, and just 10 runs later Tredwell claimed the big wicket of England one-day skipper Eoin Morgan when he had him superbly caught for three, by Matt Coles.

Malan was fourth out at 97, caught by Blake off Fabian Cowdrey, having made 47 from 65 deliveries with five boundaries but Kiwi veteran James Franklin was then joined by 21-year-old left-hander Nick Gubbins and together they set about a counter-attack.

The pair added 78 in just over 16 overs before Cowdrey made the breakthrough, forcing Franklin to give him a return catch, immediately after he had reached his half-century.

Franklin made exactly 50, from 59 balls, with three fours, and Gubbins then went to his maiden fifty in the competition, reaching 56 when he was caught by a sliding Alex Blake off Ivan Thomas. The youngster faced 64 balls, hitting four hefty legside sixes and one solitary four.

That wicket brought to an end a promising stand of 32 in 3.2 overs between Gibbins and wicketkeeper John Simpson (15), who was seventh out at 219 when Blake claimed his third catch of the day, this time off Claydon.

Toby Roland-Jones added some late momentum, racing to a competition best 31 not out from 22 balls with two fours and two sixes - both off Coles - but he lost Ollie Raynor (9) at 242,and James Harris (2), run out from the final ball of the innings, leaving the hosts on 260-9. They had taken 89 from the last 10 overs, and 38 from the last four.

Tredwell finished with superb figures of 2-24 from 10 overs while Cowdrey took 2-37 from 10. Thomas (1-29 from four overs), Claydon (2-63 from seven) and Coles (1-54 from nine) were the other wicket takers while Stevens (0-52) finished wicketless from his 10 overs, but did bowl the only maiden of the innings.

Kent's reply began in similar fashion to the Middlesex innings with openers Bell-Drummond and Joe Denly adding 25 before the latter was caught by Robson off the bowling of Junaid Khan for 11.

Bell-Drummond was then joined by Sam Northeast and they had advanced the score to 50 in the 12th over when the Kent skipper fell for 17, caught behind by a diving Simpson off Harris.

Bell-Drummond went in the 20th over, needlessly run out for 23, but Billings and Darren Stevens took the total past three figures only for Stevens to be caught off spinner Ollie Rayner for 18, at 106.

Cowdrey and Billings then began to get the scoreboard ticking over nicely adding 49 before Cowdrey (16) was caught behind off Roland-Jones - at which stage Kent still required 106 from 15.3 overs.

Hopes of being able to do it suffered a severe setback in the next over as Billings was caught at short third man off Rayner for 68 made from 82 deliveries with nine fours to make it 157-6 and Rayner struck again in his next over, bowling Coles for just two (165-7).

Blake (7), Tredwell (5) and Claydon (2) all came and went quickly as Kent's innings folded to 173 all out with nearly nine overs remaining.

The Spitfires will hope to bounce back when they host Sussex at Canterbury on Sunday (start 10.30am).