Jason Roy put Kent to the sword as the Spitfires ended their NatWest T20 Blast campaign with a 37-run defeat against Surrey before a capacity crowd of 25,500 at the Kia Oval on Friday night.

The England opener blasted a brilliant 120 not out from 62 balls as Surrey amassed a formidable total of 212-4 and Kent were then restricted to 175-7 despite an excellent 59 from skipper Sam Northeast.

opening partnership of 187 in 17.2 overs between Roy and Australian big-hitter Aaron Finch, who scored 79. remarkable Surrey’s imposing total was based on a

The stand was just five runs short of equalling the highest partnership in English domestic T20 cricket, the 192 between Kevin O’Brien and Hamish Marshall for Gloucestershire against Middlesex at Uxbridge in 2011. It was, however, by some distance the biggest stand in the competition this season.

Finch eventually launched Mitch Claydon – the only Kent bowler to keep the run-scoring under any sort of check – to Joe Denly at deep mid wicket in search of a fifth six. He also hit four fours in his 51-ball knock.

It was simply a mark of Roy’s brilliance, indeed, that Finch’s innings seemed pedestrian in comparison. Roy’s fifty took 29 balls, Finch’s 38, yet it was not just his quicker scoring but the crispness of his strokeplay and the imagination he showed to pick up runs in a 360-degree arc that set Roy apart.

The England one-day opener also hit 109 against Sussex, at Hove, earlier in the competition and, in the group stage, has plundered 495 runs from 12 innings at an average of 45.00 and a strike rate of 164.45.

Finch’s departure, to the second ball of the 18th over, was the prelude to a final thrash which also brought the wickets of Morris, Tom Curran and Sam Curran, who was run out trying to pinch a third run for Roy from the last ball of the innings.

Kent’s reply started with the in-form Daniel Bell-Drummond slamming six fours while scoring 31 of the first 35 runs, off just 17 balls, before skying Sam Curran to mid off.

Denly was run out for 20 and Sam Billings stumped off a deliberate wide for two when Gareth Batty, the Surrey captain and off spinner, saw the batsman coming and fired one down the legside for Ben Foakes to whip off the bails.

Chris Morris bowled Alex Blake for 19 and, later in the over, the 13th of Kent’s innings, saw Darren Stevens superbly held by Roy as he sprinted in from deep cover to take a low catch sprawling forward. Roy was the catcher again, in the next over, when Matt Coles sliced Azhar Mahmood to square cover on the boundary.

That left Kent struggling on 111-6 but skipper Northeast and Will Gidman gave the scoreline some respectability with a half-century stand.

The pair added 52 before Northeast was caught by Finch off Jade Dernbach in the penultimate over. He faced 44 balls and hit two sixes and five fours. Gidman finished 30 not out, made from 20 deliveries, with four boundaries.

Neither Kent nor Surrey qualified for the quarter-finals with Gloucestershire, Glamorgan, Middlesex and Essex going through from the South Group. They join Nottinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Yorkshire and Durham at finals day.

Kent resume their Royal London One-Day Cup campaign on Sunday when they host Gloucestershire at the Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence (11am).