Superb death bowling and another Daniel Bell-Drummond masterclass saw Kent Spitfires edge past Hampshire in NatWest T20 Blast South Group on Tuesday.

Bell-Drummond amassed 62 from 42 balls, his third half-century of the group stage, to pass 300 T20 runs for the season and help his side reach 91-1 in the 11th over, though the Spitfires did stutter to post 159-6 on a slow track.

However despite a bright start to the reply from the hosts seeing them look odds-on to secure a healthy win at the Ageas Bowl, needing just 52 from the final seven overs, a superb bowling display restricted them to 154-4.

After Jimmy Neesham and Matt Coles stemmed the flow in the final few overs, Mitch Claydon heroically defended 16 from the final six balls to enhance his growing reputation as a death bowler.

The win - Kent's fourth in nine games, with four losses and a tie - enhanced Kent's hopes of a top-four finish in a tight South Group with rock-bottom Sussex to visit Canterbury next on Friday night.

James Vince and Rilee Rossouw had got Hampshire off to a quick start in their quest to reach 160.

Skipper Vince in particular took a fancy to fast bowler Claydon, who he dispatched for the match’s first six over cover in the fourth over.

But Claydonr hit back three balls later as Rossouw picked out Alex Blake at mid-on to break the 43-run opening partnership.

Vince departed to the final ball of the powerplay as he was yorked by former teammate Matt Coles – as Hampshire sped to 60 in the opening six overs.

Spin pair Imran Qayyum and James Tredwell put the brakes on Hampshire’s charge with tight middle overs.

And from then on the hosts struggled though Bailey and Alsop neatly added 40 to take their side to 28 runs from victory before the Australian chipped a paddle sweep to short fine leg for 41.

Liam Dawson then picked out Blake on the long-on boundary after Neesham had only gone for two in the 18th over.

Coles then went for six in the penultimate over before Claydon brilliantly defended the last six balls, as he only went for 10, to lift Kent’s hopes of reaching the quarter-finals.

Earlier, Kent captain Sam Northeast won the toss and decided to bat on a grubby track under thin grey clouds.

Joe Denly and Bell-Drummond set off at an understated rate, which set the tone for the innings.

Denly cracked back-to-back fours off Chris Wood in the second over, two of just 12 boundaries in the Kent total, as they reached 47 by the end of the powerplay.

Mason Crane broke the 65-run opening stand when he bowled Denly with a googly.

Skipper Northeast was bowled for a quick 10 and Sam Billings picked out Crane on the long on boundary – as Afridi showed his class.

England Lions star Bell-Drummond continued to tick the score along effortlessly and reached a 33-ball fifty.

Shahid Afridi was keeping things tight at the other end but waited until his final over to blow the visitors away by snatching two wickets in two balls to finish with 4-26.

Neesham top-edged a sweep to short third man and Bell-Drummond was brilliant caught for 62 by a sliding Dawson on the cover boundary.

Blake and Darren Stevens struck a quick 39 to lift Kent to 159 although the latter was caught at mid-off at the final ball as Kyle Abbott deceived him with a slower ball – with the quick late runs a key factor in making sure Kent went level on points with fourth-placed Hampshire.