Kent slumped to the foot of the Vitality Blast South Group after a comprehensive seven-wicket thrashing at Essex on Tuesday night.

Spitfires never recovered after being reduced to 17-4 having been inserted by the hosts, falling to their sixth defeat in seven matches.

Kent head coach Matt Walker said: "The game was lost in the first six overs being 24-4, you aren't winning too many games from that position.

"We tried to pull some punches but it is a long way back from that position. As much as we scrapped we didn't quite use our brain enough, where we should have got closer to 150 - 130 was never going to be enough.

"After those initial wickets it was always going to be a cruise for them. We keep making the same mistakes unfortunately, when the basic skills aren't good enough it is going to be hard to win games of cricket and that's where it has been all campaign really. We've made the same errors over and over again.

"There are still seven games to go and we need to win them all, starting with Somerset on Friday night.

"Eventually we will get to the stage if we don't win the next few games it will be playing for pride. But we need to keep believing as anything can happen in this competition.

"We still feel we are in this competition, it is going to take an almighty effort to do something to get us there but it has to turn around at some stage."

Kent lost Joe Denly - who hit a century in his previous T20 outing against Middlesex on Sunday - to illness with Tawanda Muyeye coming in for his debut in this format.

Australian Daniel Sams produced a snorter to have Kent's Daniel Bell-Drummond caught at first slip for a first over duck, before Muyeye (6) holed Ben Allison out to deep mid-wicket and Jordan Cox (2) tickled to a juggling short fine leg two balls later. Sam Cook completed the ruthless start when Grant Stewart (2) - promoted in the order to four - miss-hit to point.

Alex Blake attempted to readdress the momentum by striking back-to-back sixes, as Aron Nijjar went for 21 in his sole over. But despite partnerships of 29 with Sam Billings - who was brilliantly caught and bowled by Simon Harmer for eight - and 27 with Jack Leaning (14), setting a total was tough work as Spitfires were 73-6 in the 13th over.

Blake went to Sams for 38 and leg-spinner Matt Critchley, who had bowled Leaning, picked up George Linde (18) slicing to Sams at point. It was one of four catches for Sams which equalled Essex’s T20 record - set by Dan Lawrence in this fixture last year.

Qais Ahmad hit two sixes in his 24 but Spitfires could only muster 130-9 from their 20 overs.

Klaassen gave Essex a nervy start, bowling two maidens and removing Adam Rossington for eight.

But Michael Pepper made 50 and by the time Will Buttleman departed for 15 - thanks to a spectacular piece of fielding by Blake - Essex were 53-2 in the eighth over.

Pepper added three maximums off the spinners before he moved to his half-century from just 28 balls. He fell when he top-edged a sweep to short fine leg, but Critchley and Paul Walter - who struck three massive sixes - got Essex over the line with just under five overs to spare.