Kent's Martin van Jaarsveld on his way to 106 against Essex at Canterbury
Picture: Andy Payton

Kent claimed their first LV= County Championship Division 1 win in three months on Sunday after defeating Essex at St Lawrence.

The hosts dismissed Essex for 177 in their second innings on the final afternoon to win by 99 runs.

Azhar Mahmood was the star of the show, taking 5-62 including the scalp of former Kent favourite Matthew Walker, who top scored for the visitors with 35.

Essex had seem well placed overnight after reaching 48-1 in pursuit of a victory target of 277 but they lost Tom Westley and Jaik Mickleburgh early on the fourth morning.

England hopeful Ravi Bopara and Walker nearly doubled their tally but Simon Cook had the former brilliantly stumped by Geraint Jones to leave Essex on 120-4.

James Foster made just 12 from 46 balls before he was run out by Kent skipper Rob Key, just two overs after Walker was dismissed.

From 145-4, Essex collapsed to 177 all out with James Tredwell picking up two wickets, including last man Andy Carter for 11.

It meant Kent’s dramatic batting collapse – they were dismissed for just 135 in less than 50 overs – on the third day did not come back to haunt them.

After Key won the toss and elected to bat on the opening day, Kent secured maximum batting points thanks mainly to a 176-run fourth-wicket partnership between Jones (99) and Martin van Jaarsveld (106).

Amjad Khan (3-47) and Malinga Bandar (3-44) were the most successful Kent bowlers in Essex’s first innings. The visitors were struggling to avoid the follow-on at 183-6 but 88 by Mark Pettini and 42 from ex-Kent man Dave Masters helped them to 279.

Carter (5-40) and part-time bowler Walker (3-35) then put the brakes on Kent’s second innings. When van Jaarsveld went for 18, the hosts were 40-6 in little more than 20 overs.

Tredwell steered the total past three figures with 40 while good support came from Bandara (23) and Mahmood (19).

The win moves Kent out of the relegation places ahead of the four-day game against Somerset which starts on Tuesday as part of Canterbury Festival Week.