On an even more humid second day at Canterbury, Kent came through a sticky final session to remain in control. But Imran Tahir, the leg spinner from Pakistan, showed how dangerous he can be by taking two wickets in two overs and asking questions of all the batsmen with his turn and bounce. Kent will not want to bat last against him and they should not have to. Yasir Arafat and Azhar Mahmood showed how the conditions should be used, bowling a much fuller length than the previous day and rattling Hampshire out in the morning.

Resuming on 312 for five, Hampshire lost their last five wickets for 55 runs in 15 overs. Arafat clean bowled Dimitri Mascarenhas through the gate in the third over and took three wickets to finish with 6-86, his best figures for Kent in all competitions.

Hampshire found the edge plenty of times but have only themselves to blame. It may have been bad luck, but their slips appeared to have started too deep.

Rob Key got Kent off to a rapid start in what could have been a difficult 40 minutes before lunch. Key had them scoring at nearly six an over, although he gave a difficult chance to Chris Benham at third slip on 33. Chris Tremlett had him caught behind after lunch but his 67 off 69 had given Kent a start which was as positive as it has been rare in the Championship this season.

But it was Joe Denly who benefited from all of the charity, as Hampshire gave him five lives. Tremlett had him dropped behind off a regulation edge with the second ball of the innings and Denly was dropped a further four times on 24, 28, 44 and 63, when Tahir put down a difficult caught and bowled chance. But Tahir removed his middle stump with his top-spinner after tea as Denly misread and rocked on to the back foot. Denly had just hit a second six off Mascarenhas, this time driven over his head after stepping down the pitch. His 89 came off 160 balls.

Denly, 22, has been talked of as a future England opener in all forms of the game, but whilst he was the leading scorer in the country in the Twenty20 Cup this season, he has had a difficult Championship campaign. Before this innings he had scored just 435 runs at an average of 24.16. He still has some work to do against the best leg spinners. Danish Kaneria, the Essex and Pakistan bowler caused him problems earlier in the season.

Neil Dexter had been stumped the over before as Tahir beat him. Back from his two mostly barren months on loan to Essex, Dexter, in the side for the injured Darren Stevens, took 13 balls to get off the mark.

Kent bat deeper than most counties, but the key confrontation on the third day today will be the continuation of the battle between Tahir and Martin van Jaarsveld. Tahir joined the Titans franchise in South Africa this winter, where Van Jaarsveld, his captain, has done much to help develop his bowling. Van Jaarsveld seemed to read him and played him well of the back foot, driving and then lifting him over mid-wicket for four.

Scoreboard

Hampshire: First Innings
M A Carberry c G O Jones b McLaren 92
M J Brown lbw b Yasir Arafat 6
S M Ervine b Yasir Arafat 0
M J Lumb c Kemp b McLaren 73
C C Benham c G O Jones b Yasir Arafat 49
N Pothas not out 73
*A D Mascarenhas b Yasir Arafat 12
C T Tremlett c van Jaarsveld b Azhar Mahmood 4
D J Balcombe c Tredwell b Yasir Arafat 10
Imran Tahir c van Jaarsveld b Azhar Mahmood 2
J A Tomlinson b Yasir Arafat 0
Extras (lb 16, w 4, nb 26) 46

Total (110.2 overs) 367

Fall of wickets: 1-17, 2-20, 3-201, 4-208, 5-283, 6-327, 7-336, 8-355, 9-358.

Bowling: Yasir Arafat 27.2-3-86-6; Azhar Mahmood 22-2-79-2; Joseph 16-2-78-0; McLaren 17-7-34-2; Tredwell 21-6-53-0; Van Jaarsveld 7-0-21-0.

Kent: First Innings
J L Denly b Imran Tahir 89
*R W T Key c Pothas b Tremlett 67
N J Dexter st Pothas b Imran Tahir 36
M van Jaarsveld not out 25
J C Tredwell not out 14
Extras (lb 3, w 1, nb 6) 10

Total (3 wkts, 71 overs) 241

J M Kemp, G O Jones, Azhar Mahmood, Yasir Arafat, R McLaren and R H Joseph to bat.

Fall of wickets: 1-110, 2-194, 3-203.

Bowling: Tremlett 13-5-44-1; Balcombe 11-1-45-0; Tomlinson 9-0-40-0; Mascarenhas 19-4-67-0; Imran Tahir 19-5-42-2.

Umpires: A A Jones and N J Llong.