In-form Jordan bags victory for frenzied Surrey over Kent
The all-rounder followed up his Vitality Blast best of 4-10 by hitting a boundary off the final ball of Thursday's (June 12) match to claim a win by four wickets.
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Kent's 171-7 looked unlikely to be enough while Jason Roy (56) and skipper Sam Curran (32) were adding 90 in nine overs to overcome the early losses of Dominic Sibley (6) and Will Jacks (67).
But Australian paceman Wes Agar removed both in the 12th over, Roy given out to a catch behind which elicited an angry response from the England white ball opener.
When Tom Curran – playing just as a batsman because of injury – was run out in the 13th, they had sunk from 102-2 to 105-5 inside nine balls.
The match turned again on Laurie Evans and Mitchell Santner putting on 48 from 33, Kiwi Santner's departure in the 18th failing to disturb his partner.
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Evans, who had recaptured his best T20 form when the sides met at Canterbury six days earlier, took two fours off Tom Rogers in the penultimate over in his crucial knock of 46 off 29 deliveries.
That still left Surrey needing nine from the final over, but Kent had used up their best bowlers and skipper Sam Billings had to use leg-spinner Matt Parkinson.
Another handicap was that bowling their overs too slowly left them with an extra fielder having to be brought into the 30-yard circle.
Parkinson kept it down to six from the first five balls but, from the last, Jordan perfectly dissected a gap between two fielders at long-on, to the roar of a crowd of around 20,000, giving Surrey their third win in five games.
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"It's the first time we have chased a score this season and, credit to the boys, we kept going down the order," said 36-year-old Jordan.
"All I needed to do off the last delivery was to get bat on ball and it was great to help get us over the line.
"In terms of the overall performance, things are coming together nicely."
Earlier on, Tawanda Muyeye's 37 gave Kent momentum after being sent in but they needed a hard hit 40 from 24 balls by former England batsman Joe Denly to gain substance, aided by Jack Leaning (24) and Tom Rogers (18no).
It was Rogers who stiffened Surrey's chase by ensuring 18 came off the final over, bowled by Jacks, to escape the straitjacket inflicted by the outstanding Jordan, who struggled last season on his return from the World T20 but is now looking back to his best.
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Surrey have been given a frenetic finale to the first stage of the Blast, Tuesday's trip to play Hampshire at the Utilita Bowl followed 24 hours later by entertaining Sussex at the The Oval.
They remain at home to take on Middlesex in the London derby on Friday evening and then it's a rapid change of focus with a return to Rothesay County Championship action.
Standing second in Division One, 10 points behind leaders Nottinghamshire despite having only won two out of seven matches so far, the three-times champions head to New Road to take on Worcestershire on Sunday (June 22), followed seven days later by a home clash with Durham.
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