Laurie Evans rediscovered his touch as Surrey overcame Kent by 42 runs at Canterbury in the Vitality Blast.

It was a welcome change in fortune for Sam Curran’s side, having been mauled by Hampshire 24 hours earlier.

They have won two and lost two in their four outings so far this season, a misfiring batting line-up leaving them badly short of runs in the first three outings.

T20 specialist Evans was Surrey’s only ever-present last season, when they reached the semi-finals, but scored just 279 runs along the way. He had shown signs of a return to form against Hampshire, finishing 33 not out, and confirmed that at Canterbury on Friday after the visitors had been sent in.

Evans made 62 not out from just 26 deliveries – including three fours and four sixes – to ensure they reached 193 for seven, the innings having been launched by Ollie Pope (53) and Dominic Sibley (36) in a partnership of 83 from 9.1 overs.

The momentum was lost in sliding to 101 for four in the 13th over but Evans used all his vast T20 experience around the world to ensure a highly-competitive total despite seamer Grant Stewart claiming three for 27.

Kent’s response was built around Tawanda Muyeye (26), Zak Crawley (46) and Joe Denly (26). But from a challenging 109 for two in the 13th over they went into meltdown, losing six wickets for nine runs in 17 balls. New Zealand’s T20 captain Mitchell Santner was the main protagonist, the left-arm spinner claiming three for 28 and Curran taking two for 24 as Kent limped to 151 for nine at the end.

Evans said: “I’ve had a bit of a lean patch in the past year. Batting in the middle order’s not always consistent and it was nice to get some runs under my belt when the team really needed it.”

Having started with a defeat against Somerset – who have knocked them out in the semi-finals for the past two years – Surrey's first win came against Glamorgan at Cardiff, Jason Roy following his superb 92 at Taunton by making 69 out of 149 for eight. Despite Kiran Carlson’s 31, the Welsh side fell seven runs short, skipper Curran’s three for 18 in four overs proving key.

But Surrey failed to shake off a highly-disciplined Hampshire attack at The Oval, restricted to 141 for seven despite Roy (37), Curran (35) and Evans all making an impact, seamers Chris Wood (two for 27) and Scott Currie (two for 27) both particularly effective.

Toby Albert (28) and captain James Vince (33) – the latter only available for white ball matches this season – gave the visitors a comfortable start before the promised rain arrived at The Oval. They were comfortably ahead of the DLS rate at 63 without loss from 8.2 overs when it struck, earning Hampshire victory by 15 runs.

Currently fifth in the South Group, Surrey meet Kent again at the Kia Oval on Thursday (June 12) and then have a break before three matches in four days, starting with a trip to Hampshire (June 17), then entertaining Sussex 24 hours later and Middlesex on June 20.

They return to action in the Rothesay County Championship first division from June 22-25, taking on Worcestershire at New Road, Durham arriving at The Oval a week later.

By Richard Spiller