Essex won their first Vitality Blast game of the season when they routed the Kent Spitfires by nine wickets at Canterbury on Friday.

The visitors held Kent to 129 for 9 from their 20 overs, with Charlie Bennett and Wiaan Mulder claiming 3 for 25 and 3 for 26 respectively as they wiped out the Spitfires’ top order. Dian Forrester was Kent’s top scorer with 34.

Michael Pepper then hit 64, including three sixes and six fours, and Paul Walter an unbeaten 42 as Essex chased down the target with 6.2 overs to spare.

Essex chose to bowl and did so ruthlessly. They took the prize wicket of Tawanda Muyeye for one in the second over, when he pulled Bennett to Luc Benkenstein at deep backward square and Zak Crawley went in the next over for seven, driving Shane Snater straight to Mulder.

Sam Billings went for eight in the fourth, ramping Zaman Akhter straight to Bennett and when Daniel Bell-Drummond charged down the wicket to Mulder he was caught behind for 13 Kent were 30 for 4 – and there were still two balls left of the powerplay.

Joe Denly briefly got the crowd going when he pulled Mulder for six, but Mulder bowled him two balls later for 14.

Simon Harmer’s 12th over was a maiden and scoring was painfully slow, until the 15th, which went for 14. However, Jake Lintott skied Bennett to Pepper for 18, Forrester hit Bennett to Paul Walter at short fine leg and Tom Rogers made just seven before he lofted Mulder to Luc Benkenstein.

Matt Milnes hit a couple of fours in the 19th and Fred Klaassen then heaved Snater for a six, only to get caught by Walter off the next ball for eight.

The target looked meagre, but Kent were in the game for a good three overs, until Walter and Pepper got their eyes in.

On the rare occasions when they played false shots the ball never landed near a fielder: Pepper was on 24 when he miscued Rogers, but none of the three Kent fielders converging on the ball could reel in the catch and Muyeye injured his arm in the process.

When Pepper hit Matt Parkinson for four through extra cover to reach 50 any lingering doubt about the outcome had been extinguished, and although Rogers got Pepper caught behind trying a ramp, Billings then dropped Charlie Allison when he gloved the next ball.

Allison used the reprieve to hit the winning runs, pulling Klaassen for four through cow corner, handing the Spitfires their first defeat of the season.

* The result means Essex regain the Mike Denness Shield, played for by these two sides each year across all formats.