FIRST season rookie Joe Denly scored his maiden championship century to hold together the home side's fragile top-order batting on an action-packed opening day in which 16 wickets fell in Kent's LV Championship match with Hampshire at St Lawrence.

Despite ideal batting conditions Kent struggled for runs with only three reaching double figures, while opener Denly dug in for an excellent 177-ball century with 12 fours.

Thanks to Denly, who was playing only his seventh championship game, Kent reached 199 all out inside 58.9 overs, but by the close Hampshire had slumped to 124 for six, still trailing by 75 runs.

Kept out of the county side last season by veteran former skipper David Fulton, 21-year-old Denly, who had played only three first class games coming into this summer, was again top-scorer as Kent crumbled in the face of Hampshire's Aussie duo Stuart Clark and Shane Warne.

The former England Under-19 player lost six players in the first session, this after Kent had won the toss and elected to bat, yet kept a cool head to top score and carry his bat.

Skipper Rob Key was the first casualty, playing around the sixth ball of the day, his second, from Clark to go leg before without scoring.

Martin van Jaarsveld, who came into this game with an average of 8.4 from his previous five championship innings, had reached 11 when he snicked one to second slip only to see Warne down the chance at second slip.

Four balls later, when on 12, van Jaarsveld edged another airy drive against Clark and Warne this time took the regulation chance.

Matthew Walker (4) edged a Clark off-cutter onto off stump, Darren Stevens (11) nicked a bat-pad chance to short leg off Dimitri Mascarenhas then Geraint Jones (0) was caught behind off the same bowler.

Then, three balls before lunch, Warne turned a googly through the gate of Andrew Hall (1) to graze the South African's off stump.

Four overs after lunch Warne had Yasir Arafat (7) caught at short leg then Clark, two overs into a new spell, took his fourth wicket by having Ryan McLaren (4) caught behind.

Of Kent's first eight batsmen dismissed, only two made it into double figures and all eight contributed only 39 runs from only 19 scoring strokes.

Denly reached three figures for the first time in the championship soon after 3pm when his pull shot against Chris Tremlett evaded John Crawley at mid-wicket allowing the young right-hander to cross for the two runs needed to reach the milestone

After a ninth wicket stand worth 53 in 13 overs James Tredwell (17) blotted his copybook by running down the pitch to Warne, only to lose his leg stump as he aimed to clip the ball through mid-wicket.

Then, just one run short of a first batting bonus point, last man Simon Cook (8) edged an attempted back foot force off Chris Tremlett, keeper Burrows parried the ball twice for Warne to snatch the rebound when moving across from second slip.

That left extras as second top scorer with 20 and Denly unbeaten on 115, the first Kent player to carry his bat since Fulton did so in 2003 in scoring an unbeaten 94 at St Lawrence against Essex, and the first Kent player to do so while scoring a century since Neil Taylor achieved the feat in Canterbury against Nottinghamshire in 1987.

All out by 3.30pm, Kent had 43 overs left to make inroads into the Hampshire order and they got their first breakthrough after three when Arafat trapped Michael Brown leg before without scoring as the right hander tried to flick to leg.

Just before tea James Adams (21) snicked an attempted drive against Arafat but the collapse continued after the break with four more wickets.

Seven balls after the break Crawley (16) pushed at a Cook leg-cutter to be well held at second slip by van Jaarsveld then Michael Lumb (0) edged an attempted drive against Arafat to Walker at third slip as Kent bagged three wickets in the space of 12 balls without addition.

Sean Ervine (22), who appeared in no trouble, went leg before to a full length ball from Cook then, three runs later, former Kent batsman Michael Carberry, having scored just seven from 43 balls, went leg before to McLaren to make it 85 for six.

Burrows ( 21) and Mascarenhas (14) made it through to the close, but Kent's bowlers will be delighted to have kept their side in the game on such an action-packed opening day.

SCORECARD

Kent first innings

R W T Key lbw b Cook 0
J L Denly not out 115
M van Jaarsveld c Warne b Clark 12
M J Walker b Clark 14
D I Stevens c Brown b Mascarenhas 11
G O Jones c Burrows b Mascarenhas 0
A J Hall b Warne 1
Yasir Arafat c Burrows b Warne 7
R McLaren c Burrows b Clark 4
J C Tredwell b Warne 17
S J Cook c Warne b Tremlett 8
Extras 20

Total 199 all out after 58.9 overs

Fall of wicket: 1-1, 2-43, 3-55, 4-72, 5-74, 6-98, 7-110, 8-129, 9-182.

Bowling: Clark 14-1-48-, Mascarenhas 15-6-29-2, Tremlett 9.4-0-54-1, Ervine 6-3-14-0, Warne 14-2-42-3.

Hampshire first innings

M J Brown lbw b Arafat 0
J H K Adams c Jones b Arafat21
J P Crawley c van Jaarsveld b Cook 22
M J Lumb c Walker b Arafat 0
M A Carberry lbw b McLaren 7
S M Ervine lbw b Cook 22
A D Mascarenhas not out 14
T G Burrows not out 21
Extras 8

Total 124 for six after 43 overs

Fall of wicket: 1-5, 2-52, 3-52, 4-52, 5-83, 6-85.

Bowling: Arafat 13-2-44-3, Hall 11-3-33-0, Cook 10-3-20-2, McLaren 9-3-18-1.

Bonus points: Kent 2pts, Hampshire 3pts.