Blake: It was great to watch

Alex Blake says he had a sore hand after repeatedly touching gloves with team-mate Darren Stevens while they were batting together in the NatWest T20 Blast South Group clash against Surrey at the Kia Oval on Friday night. The pair shared a 109-run partnership during the 54-run win with Stevens smashing a career-best T20 90 off 38 balls, including five sixes and 10 fours, as Kent posted their highest score in this format of the game, 231-7. And Blake, who scored 27 off 18 balls including five fours, said he was happy to watch in awe as Stevens went on the rampage, including 26 off one James Burke over. He said: “I’ve seen Stevo play like that before but have never been up the other end when he’s done it – he was hitting the ball so cleanly and so far. “When he’s going like that, you’ve just got to let him go and feed him the strike as much as you can. “All I could do was wander down after each six and four and bump gloves with him – it gave my glove a real workout!” But it wasn’t only with his bat that Stevens starred as Kent completed the double over Surrey in the competition this season. He then took 4-39 off his four overs as Surrey were dismissed for 177. Earlier, Daniel BellDrummond (38) and captain Sam Northeast (32) steadied the innings with a 57-run partnership after Joe Denly fell in the first over. Fabian Cowdrey (21) kept the runs flowing before he became Tim Linley’s (4-45) first victim after which Stevens and Blake took centre stage.