They are the champions, but maybe not for much longer if this implosion against a weak Surrey side, who were already out of the competition, is anything to go by. Chasing 167 to win, no more than a par score, Kent panicked and imploded. They must beat Sussex at Hove on Friday to have a chance of qualifying from this tight group.

Azhar Mahmood almost rescued them single-handedly with a delightful 55, that was by turns brutal and delicate, off 31 balls. But with Kent needing 14 off the last over from expert death bowler Abdul Razzaq, Mahmood clipped to deep-midwicket where Chris Murtagh made a running catch look easy. While his vastly more experienced team mates dropped three catches, Murtagh, 23, who was making his Twenty20 debut and had made a fourth ball duck, took three catches on the leg-side boundary.

Four balls later, with eight needed off two balls, Jason Roy, on as substitute fielder for Alistair Brown, took an even better catch two-handed running and diving to his left to save six and remove Ryan McLaren.

Razzaq finished with four for 17 to follow his 33-ball 39. But it was his dropped catch that got Kent back into game. Kent had just 65 off eleven overs. But Arafat was dropped twice off Matthew Spriegel's breaks in the twelfth over on 12 and 14. Razzaq started the rot by dropping a steepling (the batsmen ran two) catch at mid-wicket and then Scott Newman dropped what should have been a simple flat drive to long on. Mahmood and Arafat put on 68 in 36 balls.

With a series of headless shots, Kent had slipped to 55 for five in the tenth over when Martin van Jaarsveld slogged straight to Chris Murtagh at deep-wicket. Kent have relied on their openers and made some strange selections in the middle order. Matt Walker's inclusion at number three in his first game in the competition this season was bizarre and Van Jaarsveld has made just 132 in nine innings and is lucky not to have been dropped.

Kent have relied on their openers but lost both early in the space of three balls. Joe Denly, the second highest run-scorer in the competition this season with five half centuries in eight games, pulled the fourth ball into the heaving marquees of the capacity 8,000 crowd. Denly was out in slightly controversial circumstances, spooning a high full toss to silly mid-of. The umpires seemed to agree after that the ball was on the way down. With the number of full tosses being bowled in Twenty20 , it is not long before this rule will have to be re-examined. Rob Key pulled Razzaq to Murtagh at deep square leg.

Surrey had lost regular wickets but not momentum. Alistair Brown (why has he not been opening from the beginning of the competition) got them off to a decent start. Then Scott Newman smashed a drive back into his forearm and after several minutes attention Brown was out shortly after edging a drive behind in the ninth over for 30 off 19 balls. Newman was run out misjudging a second run to Denly at deep square leg.

But from 91 for four Jonathan Batty helped Razzaq make 53 off 35 balls to help Surrey to what proved to be enough.

Surrey won toss
Surrey
S A Newman run out 38
A D Brown c Jones b McLaren 30
C P Murtagh b McLaren 0
Abdul Razzaq c Key b Arafat 39
U Afzaal c Van Jaarsveld b Tredwell 2
J N Batty c Van Jaarsveld b Azhar 26
C P Schofield not out 8
*M R Ramprakash c Denly b Azhar 7
M N W Spriegel not out 4
Extras (lb 2, w 10) 12
Total (7 wkts, 20 overs) 166

J W Dernbach and J Ormond did not bat.

Fall of wickets: 1-66, 2-67, 3-87, 4-91, 5-144, 6-149, 7-161.
Bowling: Arafat 4-0-25-1; Azhar 4-0-41-2; McLaren 4-0-26-2; Cook 4-0-53-0; Tredwell 4-0-19-1

Kent
J L Denly c Ormond b Dernbach 7
*R W T Key c Murtagh b Razzaq 14
M J Walker c Ramprakash b Schofield 7
D I Stevens b Schofield 15
Yasir Arafat lbw b Razzaq 27
M van Jaarsveld c Murtagh b Spriegel 1
Azhar Mahmood c Murtagh b Razzaq 55
G O Jones b Ormond 5
R McLaren c sub b Razzaq 16
J C Tredwell not out 1
S J Cook not out 0
Extras (b 1, lb 6, w 5) 12
Total (9 wkts, 20 overs) 160

Fall of wickets: 1-25, 2-25, 3-46, 4-49, 5-55, 6-123, 7-143, 8-153, 9-159.
Bowling: Dernbach 4-0-40-1; Ormond 4-0-39-1; Razzaq 4-0-17-4; Schofield 4-0-29-2; Spriegel 4-0-28-1.

Umpires: R T Robinson and J F Steele.