KENT skipper David Fulton may well apply for honorary membership of the Magic Circle after pulling the winning rabbit out of the hat at Guildford on Saturday.

The county’s four-day championship game with Surrey, played out on the flattest of pitches and a lightning fast outfield, had meandered rather aimlessly for 10 of its first 12 sessions until Kent turned the match on its head in the last five hours to steal a memorable four wicket win.

They started their victory charge by claiming seven Surrey wickets in the mid-session courtesy of an inspired spell of four for 15 in 33 balls from Min Patel, and proceeded to knock off the 231 runs they needed with only five balls to spare.

The improbable win was just the tonic for Fulton who, apart from standing down as one-day skipper, had seen his team suffer a miserable month in which they performed poorly in the Twenty20 Cup, lost their unbeaten championship status and were knocked out of the Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy by Warwickshire.

Talking after Kent’s fifth win of the campaign, Fulton said: "Surrey just seemed to assume that if they played conservatively there was no way we would ever bowl them out.

"But I said at our team meeting at the beginning of the day that I didn’t want our boys just going through the motions.

"I asked them to keep playing hard, share the bowling around, keep working and take what happens.

"I turned to Martin van Jaarsveld and Matt Walker as bowlers more in hope than anything else, but they both came up trumps with a wicket.

"As soon as we managed to open one end up Min came back on and, helped by some really decent fielding, finished the job really well.

"Darren Stevens held on to two great catches and Jaara (van Jaarsveld) took a couple of sharp ones too, so it was a good team performance.

"I have to pinch myself a bit that we pulled it off, but all credit to the boys."

Though Patel’s heroics had helped skittle Surrey out for 350, Kent still had to score at more than a run a ball to win the match.

With Fulton and all the top order chipping in with runs, it was left to Justin Kemp and Niall O’Brien to complete the task with five balls to go with an unbroken seventh wicket stand worth 57.

"I always say if you keep putting in the effort you eventually get what you deserve and I think we did just that here in Guildford," added Fulton.

"Some of the guys were talking about shutting up shop but I said lets not do that, lets just tick over a bit and see where we go.

"The asking rate had gone up to 9.5 an over but we knew from Twenty20 that is a very achievable target, especially on a ground like this, so I asked the lads to go after Doshi and that worked out for us.