Joe Denly's magnificent century led Kent Spitfires to their first win of the season as they defeated Middlesex by 55 runs in the Vitality Blast at Canterbury on Sunday.

Denly scored his hundred in 50 balls - pressing on the accelerator as his second fifty took just 20 deliveries - as Kent finally tasted victory this summer.

It was a fifth T20 century for Denly who hit six sixes and nine fours before falling for 110, sharing a record second-wicket stand of 157 with Jordan Cox.

Denly said: "It's been long overdue I think, both some runs for myself and obviously that win, so it's nice to get the first one under the belt and hopefully we can get on a little run here and you never know.

"It did feel really good. It was a frustrating evening the other night against Surrey, to not really get going in my innings here and fall quite short, so it was nice to go out there and try and play quite freely, try and stay as relaxed as I could.

"I got a couple out of the middle early on and just kept going. You need a bit of luck whenever you score a century in Twenty20 cricket and this afternoon was my day.

"We spoke about (kicking on). The other night we never really threw a punch against Surrey. Today was just about putting it on their bowlers, I was able to do that in the powerplay and I just felt I could keep going with that momentum. Jordan as well at the other end, it just shows the importance of partnerships. He's a fine young batter.

"If you get on a roll in this competition you just never know where it can take you. We're at Essex on Tuesday and I think we owe them one.

"They went on an incredible run a couple of years ago at the back end of the competition so we have to take little bits of hope from that and we're certainly going to gain confidence from this and try and go on a run."

Having won the toss and chosen to bat, Kent got off to a poor start when Jason Behrendorff trapped Daniel Bell-Drummond lbw for nought with the third ball of the innings, but the partnership between Denly and Cox transformed the mood.

Denly dominated the strike and out-scored Cox who had just 34 from 28 balls by the time Denly reached his ton.

Cox was bowled by Chris Green (3-29) for 45 at the end of the 15th over with Spitfires 158-2.

Green then had George Linde caught on the boundary by Luke Hollman for one and two balls later Denly fell for 110, caught by Max Holden in the deep off Green.

Martin Andersson (3-32) claimed all of his wickets in the penultimate over, which Kent started on 180-4. Alex Blake was caught off the second ball by Hollman for 10 and Sam Billings went for five to a diving catch by Green. Andersson then bowled a wide to Grant Stewart, who skied the next delivery to the same fielder.

Jack Leaning was run out for six, chasing a second off the final ball of the innings, as Kent hit just seven runs in the final over.

In reply, Leaning missed a difficult chance to catch Stevie Eskinazi off Linde in the second over but Holden was caught for 12 when he swiped Stewart to Bell-Drummond.

Eskinazi then played on to Qais Ahmad and was bowled for 30 and Joe Cracknell was out for 10 when he hit Linde to Cox at deep mid-wicket, leaving Middlesex 59-3 in the eighth over.

Linde (2-26) held a return catch to remove Andersson for one and although Cox dropped John Simpson over the boundary for six, he was out to the next ball when he chipped Leaning to Denly - 77-5 in the 12th over.

Leaning (3-30) took his second wicket when he had Jack Davies stumped by Billings for eight and his third when Green whacked him to Blake at long on as Middlesex stumbled to 94-7 in the 16th over.

Thilan Walallawita took Middlesex past three figures with a six off Leaning but he was out for 10 when he hit Stewart to Blake. Hollman (23 not out) and Behrendorff (13 not out) ensured Middlesex batted out their overs but the game was well and truly up well before the close.