Joe Denly says hitting an unbeaten century against Pakistan is a confidence builder for him.

Denly, who is captaining the side in the absence of Sam Billings, scored 116 not out in Kent’s 209-4 against the touring side of the rain affected match.

He got some much needed time in the middle after managing just eight runs from his first three innings in the Specsavers County Championship.

Denly said: “I really enjoyed. It was nice to spend the majority of the day out there. Firstly it was a great effort from the groundstaff to get us out there. It was pretty good conditions in the end.

“It was very pleasing getting to the three figures and hopefully I can take that forward.

“It means a lot getting to those three figures and getting the not out is a big confidence builder. I said before the game started I wanted to set my stall out and target this game and managed to do that.”

Denly was complimentary about the Pakistan bowling attack, including his Karachi Kings team mate Mohammed Amir who claimed the wicket of Alex Blake.

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He added: “It was always tough to score and bowled in some pretty good areas. The wicket flattened out a bit and there wasn’t much movement out there. It was their first game as well and I’m sure they are getting accustomed to the conditions.

“Mohammed Amir’s Yorker to Blakey is getting pretty much anyone out. It was a tough one for him.

“It was a good chance to look at a few players who haven’t played in the first few games and for batters to spend some time in the middle, like myself, so I think we can take a lot from it.”