First-time skipper Sam Northeast felt Kent’s young stars got a lot out of the game against New Zealand.

Northeast also said Saturday’s 42-run defeat at Canterbury helped rid the side of t20 rustiness ahead of the start of their 20-over campaign against Middlesex on Friday.

He said: “It was a good experience. A lot of people got a lot out of it and for our youngsters, it’s good preparation.

“We weren’t expected to win and we didn’t but it was good that guys showed what they can do.

“We haven’t played t20 in so long so it was good to get some rustiness out of the way and we’ll look forward to Friday.”

Northeast hailed five-wicket Mitch Claydon whom he believes will be important alongside the recalled Matt Coles for the Spitfires when their campaign begins this week.

He said: “Mitch showed exactly what he can do and it’s great leading forward into the t20s. If he can bowl like that and show that form, it will be great.

“We are working on our plans for when we go into the t20, guys like Colesey and Mitch are going to be bowling on Friday, we want their plans to be as clear as possible.

“We found it tough at times against them, especially the bowling. They have got some really clean hitters, especially the top of the order.

“We got a few wickets early which slowed them down a little bit. We thought we might be able to chase that down but just didn’t bat well enough in the end.”