Kent Spitfires moved into the top four in the Vitality Blast South Group thanks to a brilliant Daniel Bell-Drummond century against Middlesex on Friday night.

Bell-Drummond’s 111 off just 58 balls, which included four sixes, helped Spitfires post 228-3 on a warm evening at Canterbury, before they restricted Middlesex to 173 all out on their way to a sixth successive victory in the competition.

In front of a sold-out crowd in excess of 5,000, Bell-Drummond became the first Spitfires player to score a T20 ton this summer, taking his tally in 12 matches to 587 runs in the process at an average of 58.70.

Bell-Drummond said: “The key was keeping it simple and doing the basics well. Obviously we got off to a nice start once we knew we were batting first.

“Middlesex came off a brilliant win yesterday so they will have been high, but it was just a case of making sure we stuck to our strengths.

“It means everything to make a hundred, playing in front of a home crowd and it’s been a while since my last one. I felt really good coming in, I had some good form. It was a lovely wicket, I made the most of it and hopefully we can keep going from strength to strength in this tournament.

“We knew they were going to come hard, chasing a big total, but the first three overs went for 10 I think and they just really didn’t get going. Five games into the T20 we wouldn’t have guessed we’d be in this position.

“I know our guys were on it 100 per cent and I always backed us as favourites and of course anyone can get close, including them, but we backed ourselves to defend it and weren’t too worried.”

Middlesex enjoyed a record-breaking chase at Surrey just 24 hours earlier but there was to be no repeat as Grant Stewart took a hat-trick on a memorable night for the home side.

After deciding to field first, an early chance went begging for Middlesex when Tawanda Muyeye, who was on eight, holed out to Toby Greatwood, only for Luke Hollman to miss an over-the-shoulder catch. Muyeye went on to hit the next ball for six and the openers put on a stand of 127 before he was bowled by Josh de Caires for 50 at the start of the 12th over.

The run rate slowed slightly and Joe Denly was on 12 when Martin Andersson missed a difficult chance to catch him off Hollman, but it picked up again as Bell-Drummond reached his second Blast century with a classic cover drive for four off Greatwood. Bell-Drummond was one short of his best Blast score when he picked out square leg off Max Harris and departed to a standing ovation.

When Denly went for 30, driving Ryan Higgins to Andersson at long on, Kent were 199-2 with just nine balls of their innings left. But Sam Billings smashed 22 off the final over, meaning Middlesex had conceded exactly the same number of runs they did a week ago when Kent won the reverse fixture at Lord’s.

Hopes of a second miracle in 24 hours dimmed when the first three overs went for just six and Joe Cracknell swept George Linde (3-21) to Bell-Drummond in the fourth. Although Max Holden initially carried on where he’d left off against Surrey, with 10 off his first two balls, he was bowled for 11, playing on to Joey Evison (3-25).

Linde then took two wickets in the eight over as Higgins played on before John Simpson fell to a diving catch by Evison on the boundary, leaving Middlesex 54-4.

Stephen Eskinazi went for 32, flicking Evison to Grant Stewart and Jack Davies rattled off a quick 24 before he was lbw to the same bowler.

Hollman and de Caires went down fighting, plundering 23 from Michael Hogan’s 14th over and putting on 60 for the seventh wicket, but Stewart (3-39) had Hollman caught in the deep by Jordan Cox for 48 off just 20 balls.

At the start of his next over, Stewart had de Caires caught on the boundary by Jack Leaning and the bowler’s hat-trick was complete when Harris was taken just inside the rope by Cox.

The rout was sealed when Greatwood chipped Wes Agar to Evison and Kent, having seemed dead and buried little more than a fortnight ago, stand every chance of reaching the knock-out stages.

Stewart said: “It’s one of the dustiest hat-tricks you’ll ever see. You should cherish it but unfortunately I didn’t bowl at my best. It’s a bit of a rollercoaster T20 to come with a hat-trick but I definitely wasn’t the pick of the bowlers.

“It was pleasing to get a hat-trick and drag it back a bit and it was a good result. I guess (Hollman and de Caires) were trying to take on the short boundary so it was tough work to bowl at times at this end, but I guess they had a bit of a cameo there, but they were always behind the pace.

“It’s a bit of a turn around from the start of the competition, but we all know how T20 can go. Everyone that went in was unbelievable and we put them under pressure from ball one. We were on the front foot from pretty much the first ball, so it’s a good changing room to be in at the moment.

“It’s tough to put your finger on what’s clicked, the boys are just backing themselves. We saw Deebs with an unbelievable hundred. I think he’s got five fifties in the competition already and Joe Denly, Tawanda and pretty much everyone in the order you can name how good their performances have been in the last few weeks. Hopefully it’ll roll on.”