by Andrew Gidley

Sam Northeast hopes his maiden t20 half-century will be the first of many.

The 22-year-old right-hander went close with 46 off 24 balls in the Friends Life win against Hampshire Royals at Southampton, before finally reaching the milestone with 60, albeit in a losing cause against Middlesex Panthers at Canterbury last week.

It came almost two years to the day since he made his debut in the competition against Surrey at The Oval.

Northeast (pictured) said: "The two knocks have given me the confidence to know I can do it, and help the side as well.

"The innings against Middlesex allowed me to express myself, I was in a no-lose situation, and could bat with freedom.

"I was playing second team cricket earlier this season, but came back into the first team scoring runs, and it just shows that small things can make a big impact."

Three successive defeats have dented Spitfires’ hopes of progressing to the knockout stages again this season, while in-form Hampshire Royals’ rain-affected win at Surrey on Monday, puts them second behind unbeaten Sussex who booked their quarter-final spot after beating The Oval side in another Duckworth/Lewis contest at Hove the following evening.

Spitfires can still qualify as one of the two best third-placed finishers in the groups, but probably need to win all their remaining three games over the next four days to do so.

While most Kent followers, have probably already written off the Spitfires’ chances of going further, Northeast is staying positive.

"We want to win them all and see what happens, but it will be really disappointing to go out at this stage," said Northeast.

"We put one over Surrey at Beckenham, and it would be nice to do so again."

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