Kent boosted their chances of reaching the knockout stages of the One Day Cup with a 134-run win over Middlesex at Beckenham on Sunday.

Spitfires were all out for 288 but, with plenty of spin options at their disposal, they restricted the visitors to 154 all out.

After winning their first two group games by setting targets, Kent captain Jack Leaning opted to bat first on a used Beckenham pitch.

Ben Compton had an early escape on seven when he was put down by Ryan Higgins at point in the ninth over.

Daniel Bell-Drummond again featured for the Spitfires, reaching his half-century in 54 balls before sending the spin of Luke Hollman (3-53) to Higgins at long-off, leaving Spitfires 109-1 in the 21st over.

After Leaning was dropped by Sam Robson at slip on six, Kent advanced the scored to 188-1 in the 32nd over when Compton decided to hit out, departing for 60 off 92 balls after picking out Ethan Bamber at mid-on.

Leaning’s 37-ball half-century included six fours but he could only watch from the other end as Kent lost four wickets for 17 runs in six overs. Alex Blake hit a six but was bowled by Hollman for 10, Harry Finch went for a golden duck in the same way and young Jaydn Denly made six off 16 balls before he was bowled by Higgins. James Bazley then picked out Hollman off Martin Andersson for the second of three ducks in the innings.

Grant Stewart set about helping Kent nudge towards 300, taking 24 off one Andersson over which included three successive sixes.

He dominated a half-century partnership with Leaning, scoring 42 of those runs. But Leaning’s departure for 68 off as many balls signalled another flurry of Spitfires wickets.

Higgins bowled Stewart for 43 off 30 balls, Jas Singh went the same way for a second-ball duck and when Matt Parkinson was the last man to fall, Kent had probably sold themselves slightly short on 288 all out.

That was, though, in no small part down to the impressive Higgins who finished with 4-33 in his 10 overs.

Leaning bowled the second over of Middlesex’s reply and made an immediate impact, removing Joe Cracknell for two.

Bazley replaced Stewart at the other end and took a wicket with his first ball, Robson finding Hamid Qadri at point for 24. It was two in two for the Australian as Jack Davies nicked behind first ball to leave Middlesex 45-3 in the ninth over.

Higgins missed an attempted reverse sweep off Parkinson to be bowled for 21 in the 17th over, and seven balls later Leaning bowled skipper Mark Stoneman for 25. Middlesex were 79-5 and Leaning, who bowled unchanged, picked up 2-36 in 10 overs.

A quicker ball from Qadri bowled Hollman for 22, leaving Middlesex 120-6 in the 29th over.

The end was near as Josh de Caires was brilliantly caught by Bazley off Singh for seven, Simpson nicked Qadri behind for 39 and Andersson tried to launch Singh into next week but was well caught by Parkinson for three.

Parkinson (2-19) took the final wicket, Denly taking a catch on the boundary to remove Ishaan Kaushal for four.