Despite an eye-catching Kent return, Sam Billings could not hide his disappointment after the Spitfires fell well short against Surrey on Friday.

It was a fifth defeat in six Royal London One-Day Cup South Group games for Kent, though Billings back from IPL and England duty - scored more than twice as many runs as any of his team-mates in a rain-hit affair which the Spitfires lost by 44 runs at the Oval.

Ben Foakes added to his growing reputation with a highly-responsible 82 not out as Surrey kept alive their hopes of reaching the quarter-finals.

The 24-year-old was joined in a sixth-wicket stand of 79 in 11 overs by Sam Curran as Surrey rallied from 141-5 to reach 251-7 in an innings reduced to 41 overs by a delayed start and then two further rain interruptions.

despite 69 from 65 balls from Billings in his first appearance for the county this season.as they chased a Duckworth-Lewis adjusted target of 249, In reply, Kent could reach only 204 all out from 35.4 overs

Billings said: "It's a disappointing result. We just weren't there today in all aspects of the game.

"We had fought back well in the field after a poor start and the win was well within our grasp. It was a big opportunity but no one really put their hand up."

Kent lost Daniel Bell-Drummond early, for 11, when he missed a hoick at Tom Curran, but Joe Denly played well for a 40-ball 34 before inside edging into his stumps an attempted drive at Ravi Rampaul.

Sam Northeast put on 38 with Billings but was then run out for 17 when his partner refused a short single into the offside, Darren Stevens was leg-before forfive to what looked to be a Scott Borthwick googly and Alex Blake briefly glittered with three fours in a quick 22 before mis-hitting Sam Curran to mid on.

The same bowler castled Calum Haggett (11) and, at 170-6 with ten overs left, Kent’s hopes rested with Billings and the tail.

Those hopes were ended when Sam Curran went around the wicket to have Billings caught on the pull by his brother Tom at long leg. Billings had struck three sixes and two fours but his dismissal was symptomatic of Kent’s profligate batting.

The end came soon afterwards with James Tredwell and Charlie Hartley removed for ducks and Matt Coles last out for a jaunty 25. Stuart Meaker, who had Coles caught behind hooking at a bouncer, finished with 4-37 and he and Sam Curran (3-43) were the pick of Surrey’s attack.

Sixteen runs came from the first over of the match, with Roy plundering three boundaries off Coles after edging the paceman’s second ball just wide of a diving Tredwell at second slip. A clip through mid wicket, a back foot cover drive and a thundering pull were all despatched to the ropes and a huge total on a fine pitch looked certain.

Coles, however, hit back to concede just 12 runs from his next four new ball overs – an excellent effort – and Haggett, though expensive, snapped up the wicket of Mark Stoneman for 10 with a fine ball, brilliantly held by keeper Billings as he flung himself in front of slip.

The first of two rain interruptions came with Surrey on 58-1 off 7.4 overs and, by the time of the second, they were struggling at 115 from 20.2 with Stevens snaring both Kumar Sangakkara (19) and Rory Burns (11) in a typically canny spell of medium pace from the Vauxhall End.

Roy had also by then fallen for a run-a-ball 44, caught at deep square leg off Ivan Thomas after failing to kick on from his flying start while both Sangakkara and Burns found it difficult to find fluency against the accurate Stevens and also a steady six-over spell by Thomas.

Hartley and Tredwell also began tightly but, after Borthwick (17) had chipped Hartley’s fast-medium to short mid wicket a Surrey rally was launched by the in-form Foakes.

The right-handed keeper-batsman found a busy partner in Sam Curran and the sixth-wicket pair added 79 in 11 overs to revive the innings. Foakes reached his fifty from 57 balls, with successive fours off Hartley, and the younger Curran brother drove Haggett and Tredwell for sixes to long off and long on respectively before, on 39 from 37 balls, edging the returning Coles to Billings who completed the catch at the second attempt.

Thomas removed Tom Curran in the closing overs but was also pulled superbly for six by Foakes as Surrey eventually hauled themselves past the 250 mark in what had been a stop-start innings, and not just because of the weather