Ben Compton remained defiant while Middlesex made light work of the rest of the Kent top order on day of their LV= Insurance County Championship Division 1 match at Lord’s.

Compton was the only Kent player to enjoy any degree of success, batting through for a patient undefeated 38, when bad light and rain curtailed play midway through the afternoon session with the visitors struggling on 113-6.

Ethan Bamber spearheaded a potent bowling performance with three wickets. Seamer Bamber, who caught the eye with a six-wicket match haul in last week’s win against Nottinghamshire, impressed again with 3-26 to give the home side an early advantage.

He was backed up by player-coach Tim Murtagh, who collected the scalps of England opener Zak Crawley and Sam Billings, while Tom Helm was unlucky to remain wicketless after a fiery spell of bowling.

Kent head coach Matt Walker reckons his side require a lead close to 200, and then need to take a leaf out of Middlesex’s book with the ball.

“We’d like to have bowled,” he said. “We knew it was going to be pretty overcast, we knew there was rain coming in and the wicket had a green tinge, so good conditions for bowling.

“The pace of their bowlers suited that wicket nicely, they bowled good lengths and it showed - get the ball in the right areas and it’s not easy to score.

“I don’t quite know what a good score is first innings on that wicket, but if we can fight hard to get to somewhere near 200, I think that keeps us in the game. Then we’ve got to bowl how they bowled and show that consistency we haven’t quite shown over the last couple of weeks.

“I thought we played really nicely in that first hour and Compo was holding the fort nicely - playing the same innings you see week in, week out from him. He had an amazing season last year and coming back into your second season can be quite a challenge, sometimes more than the first.

“You see the same output, nothing changes - he trusts his defence hugely and he’s very patient and never gets sidetracked.

“The powers of concentration and discipline he shows are a great example. To have someone like that at the top of the order you can just play around gives everyone great confidence.”

Middlesex’s decision to bowl first paid immediate dividends as they reduced Kent to 48-4, with consistent spells by both Bamber and Helm.

However it was Murtagh who made the breakthrough, moving the ball back up the slope to bowl Crawley - who had just dispatched him twice to the short off-side boundary - through the gate for 11.

Bamber gained his reward for a miserly stint at the Pavilion End as Daniel Bell-Drummond flashed hard outside off-stump and stand-in skipper Stephen Eskinazi stretched across at first slip to pluck the ball out of the air.

Jack Leaning was next to depart, taken in the slips prodding forward at Ryan Higgins - who also bowled consistently to return 1-13 - and Bamber struck again in the next over when he uprooted Jordan Cox’s off-stump to send him on his way for a fourth-ball duck.

Murtagh kept the pressure on Kent post-lunch, producing an inswinging yorker that pinned Billings in front for 14, but Joey Evison did his best to bring some impetus to the innings with boundaries off Murtagh and Helm.

Evison’s knock was brought to an abrupt end as soon as Bamber rejoined the attack and had the all-rounder caught behind, persuading him to nibble at the first delivery of his second spell.

Grant Stewart - who made his only first-class hundred against Middlesex back in 2018 - went for his shots, lifting Bamber into the Mound Stand to reach 16 not out before the light deteriorated and the umpires halted play at 3pm.