Joe Denly was delighted to become Kent’s all-time leading run scorer in T20 cricket after his half-century against Sussex on Friday.

Denly hit 52 in that abandoned match and went past Darren Stevens’ club record in the process.

It was also his 28th career T20 half-century and he moves on to 3135 runs in a Kent shirt.

Denly said: “It’s a great feat to get there and pass a club legend like Darren Stevens. Had he played a few games this year I probably wouldn’t have passed him.

“It’s great to break records and I’m sure when I’m finished playing it won’t be too long before someone breaks that.

“Hopefully I can try and score as many runs as possible and make it as hard as possible for these young lads coming through.”

The match with Sussex on Friday was abandoned due to heavy rain and thunderstorms after just 11.2 overs were bowled with Kent in a healthy position on 99-2.

Denly was stumped off Rashid Khan’s bowling shortly before the match was interrupted.

It is the second Vitality Blast match in a row that has been called off due to the weather.

Denly said: “It’s just unfortunate we couldn’t get a game in. Sussex are a very good side with a wide range of international bowlers so it’s obviously pleasing to get off to a start like that against a quality attack.

“You just have to try and watch him (Rashid Khan) closely. He doesn’t give much away in terms of trying to pick him.

“He’s a world class bowler and has proved that over the last couple of years. Tonight was no different and I was disappointed to get out to him.

“We would much rather have rain affected games when we are at the top than at the bottom when you need to catch up on results.

“Any team in this south group can be dangerous on the day. Surrey and Sussex would be right up there with the strongest. We probably got away with a point against Surrey but tonight would have been interesting if we got a full game in.”

Kent drop down to second in the south group after Gloucestershire won their match and travel to Glamorgan in their next Vitality Blast match on Sunday.

The Sussex match also marked the end of a disappointing Canterbury Cricket Week for the team.

Denly said: “We are in a very good position in the group. We are confident going in to Sunday. We haven’t played our best cricket over the last couple of weeks but certainly tonight felt like we turned the corner a bit.

“Glamorgan is always a challenging place to go and will be interesting to see what wicket we get. It’s normally a used surface up there.

“They have some very strong players. Over the last few years results against them have been fairly split.

“The last week or so has been disappointing in terms of the cricket we’ve played. We started the season very well and have got ourselves in good positions in the Championship and this T20 competition as well. There’s a great opportunity to start again and push for silverware in both.”