More Ben Compton brilliance led Kent Spitfires back to winning ways in the Royal London One-Day Cup with a four-wicket success over Northants on Sunday.

The opener’s 87 proved a match-winning knock in Kent’s pursuit, with the 28-year-old now having scored three half-centuries in five matches in this format, as the Spitfires tasted victory after three straight defeats.

Northants won the toss in lovely conditions at The Spitfire Ground in Canterbury and elected to bat first.

Openers Emilio Gay (49) and Ricardo Vasconcelos (31) helped them reach 59-0 before the latter was bowled by spinner Hamid Qadri in the ninth over.

Away captain Will Young added 20 but was caught behind by Ollie Robinson off the bowling of opposite number Joe Denly. At this stage, 90-2 quickly became 132-6.

Qadri (4-36) did most of the damage - even running out Rob Keogh for 11 as well as taking a further three wickets - before the Steelbacks had even reached the halfway stage in their innings.

Brandon Glover and Ben Sanderson, both with 17, alongside James Sales (23) then helped the visitors reach 210 all out in the 47th over. Their total included 16 extras.

Spin had certainly done the trick for the Spitfires, though. Denly (2-41) and Tawanda Muyeye (1-17) were supported by a wicket apiece from all-rounder Joey Evison - who ended with figures of 1-4 from just two overs - and Nathan Gilchrist (1-34).

The Spitfires made a bright start in reply and had raced to 30-0 at the start of the sixth over, only for opener Muyeye to be caught by Young at first slip at the second attempt off opening bowler Nathan Buck for a 17-ball 22.

Buck (2-38) got his second in the same over, beating Robinson’s inside edge with the 23-year-old only having made one.

But that brought experienced former England batsman Denly to the crease and he didn’t take long to get comfortable as a glorious drive brought Kent’s fifty up at the end of the 10th over.

In the 14th over, a Glover no-ball proved to be costly with Denly able to hook the resulting free hit to the square-leg boundary for six. Denly had overtaken opener Compton an over later by the time the fifty partnership had come up.

But like Kent, the away team had mainly turned to spin and they finally got a sorely-needed breakthrough. Denly was dismissed for 42 as he was caught off Keogh (2-35) by Gay in the 23rd over after an 83-run stand.

Nevertheless, by the halfway stage in their innings, the Spitfires were 128-3 and looked well set for victory, with Harry Finch alongside Compton in the middle. But Finch could only add eight on his Spitfire Ground return before he was caught by Keogh off Alex Russell (1-47).

Much of Kent’s run-chase was becoming more and more reliant on the resilience of Compton and he moved to 50 off 83 balls in the 28th over with a sweep for three.

His knock moved him closer to 1,500 competitive runs for the campaign in the Royal London One-Day Cup and the County Championship as his sensational form this season continued.

With 41 needed for the win and more than 16 overs to go, Alex Blake was dismissed. He charged down the wicket as he aimed to send Keogh (2-35) back over his head, only for Northants wicketkeeper Lewis McManus to stump him.

There were not quite enough runs to play with to allow Compton to reach a century, with 16 required when he was on 82, and there was disappointment around much of the ground when he was caught by Gay off Glover’s bowling (1-35) for 87 with just two needed.

That left Qadri to hit the winning runs courtesy of a thick edge which went through the slips for four. Evison (16) remained unbeaten at the other end.

Qadri, 21, said: "It was a good game for us as a team. [After] losing a few, obviously, we needed to win today. The boys showed a lot of character to go out there and field and bowl the way we did [which] was outstanding.

"Personally, I bowled okay. The ball came out nicely and most importantly it helped us to a win, which was crucial.

"Denners [Denly] always backs me up and uses me as a threat. My job is to get wickets and today was my day on that wicket."

Kent are next in action away to Derbyshire in the Royal London One-Day Cup this Wednesday.