Canterbury (Day two of four, Kent won toss)

Kent 283 (G O Jones 106) and 145 for 1

Lancashire 125

Lunch

Three quick wickets with the new ball put Kent in total control at Canterbury, following a superb century from Geraint Jones.

Robbie Joseph bowled Paul Horton with the first ball of the Lancashire innings, off an inside edge, and then had Mal Loye caught at first slip by James Tredwell in his second over.

Loye would have been disappointed with a loose shot outside off stump, but Mark Chilton had no answer to Amjad Khan’s pace and movement when he was trapped lbw in the eighth over, for one, to leave Lancashire rocking at 6 for 3. Stuart Law, the Lancashire captain, is also suffering from a back spasm and has not batted in his usual number four position.

Jones, on 80 overnight, went to his sixth hundred for Kent – and seventh in first-class cricket, due to his 100 for England against New Zealand at Headingley in 2004 – as Joseph also contributed with the bat following the early dismissal of Khan.

Joseph came in when Khan was lbw for 16, at 246 for 8, and helped Jones to add a valuable 31 for the ninth wicket.

Jones completed a determined and skilful century from 188 balls, after 245 minutes at the crease, and after Joseph had been taken at first slip he managed a 14th boundary before being last man out, lbw to Glen Chapple.

Tea

Lancashire’s first innings continued to decline after lunch, with Joseph picking up three more wickets to reduce them to 37 for 6.

Francois du Plessis was taken at third slip, Luke Sutton at first slip and Steven Croft lbw for 13 as Joseph maintained his superb recent form with 5 for 34.

Glen Chapple began to counter-attack, but Martin Saggers then also got among the wickets to remove Stuart Law, Dominic Cork and Gary Keedy in the space of nine balls.

Law, batting at number eight because of a back spasm, was caught at the wicket and Cork lbw first ball. Keedy then clipped to square leg, but Sajid Mahmood at least boosted Lancashire from the depths of 79 for 9 with some excellent shots before he slashed to second slip for a 20-ball 33.

Saggers had earned himself figures of 4 for 26, Chapple was left on 44 not out from 40 balls, and although they had bowled Lancashire out for 125 Kent decided not to enforce the follow-on.

Close

Rob Key, the Kent captain, fell to the new ball when he edged Mahmood to keeper Luke Sutton, but there was no way back into the match for Lancashire as Kent's second-wicket pair of Joe Denly and Neil Dexter soon began to bat with few alarms.

Sutton, leading Lancashire in Law's absence from the field, tried six different bowlers before the close - but to no avail. The pitch looked to have flattened out in the late afternoon sunshine - following two stoppages for rain - and Kent's control was now absolute.

Kent's 100 came up as Denly took two leg-side fours off Gary Keedy, the slow left-armer, but it was Dexter who reached his fifty first, from 80 balls and including 10 fours.

Denly's half-century soon followed, though, from 85 balls and with seven fours, and when the second day's play ended Kent were leading by 303. Denly and Dexter, on 63 and 69 not out respectively, had put on an unbroken 139.