Kent's director of cricket Graham Ford believes his side leaked too many runs in going down to an emphatic 44-run Twenty20 Cup defeat to Hampshire on Saturday.

The visitors were never really in contention down at The Rose Bowl after allowing the Hawks to post an impressive 197-6 built around a top-score of 57 by ex-Kent left-hander Michael Carberry.

After the defeat, his side's first in three cup starts, former South Africa Test coach Ford said: "The boys have been honest about their performance and realise this was just one of those days where they didn't really get it together.

"They (Hampshire) started well, but we never really responded, whether our energy levels were a bit low I don't know, but I suspect that could be part of it.

"It was quite a good toss to win and bat first on what was a third-hand pitch, so there were a few things going in Hampshire's favour.

"When you're chasing that sort of score it's tough when the other side have three spinners working on a dry surface. Where we went wrong was in the field, because I felt we should have been chasing a more reasonable target.

"After the highs of yesterday (Friday) and the win at The Oval, quite often it's tough to go out and bowl first but we mustn't look for excuses, they played superbly and we didn't perform too well."

Looking ahead to Monday's re-match with the Hawks scheduled for a 5.30pm start at St Lawrence, Ford said: "It's a long competition and we must now bounce back and show some character, which these guys have been very good at in the past.

"RJ (Robbie Joseph) was very close to playing here and at The Oval, but we held him back because they were both used pitches and therefore just that little bit slower.

"Other than Robbie, there are no other fresh legs to bring in because Amjad Khan has a slight hamstring twinge.

"Unfortunately, his body is sending out little messages warning us not to rush him back into too much work and every time we think he is fine something else niggles away."