Zak Crawley fell just short of his first hundred of the summer on day one of Kent's County Championship clash at Yorkshire.

The 23-year-old made 90 - his highest score of the season - in front of England captain Joe Root, who returned to the Yorkshire line-up after a week's rest.

But Kent failed to make the most of that base as some ill-judged shots late in the day handed Yorkshire the initiative having reached 144-3 and then 206-4.

"I have high standards for myself, and I’ve definitely been below those so far this year," said Crawley.

"I feel like I played well, but I was angry when I got out. I didn’t even want a hundred, I wanted a lot more than that.”

“I’ve felt in decent touch the last few weeks, but the runs haven’t quite been there. So it was nice to spend some time in the middle.

“It’s a shame to lose a few wickets late in the day, but it wasn’t easy to bat on in certain periods.

"At other times it felt quite flat. There’s enough it in for our bowlers for that to be a decent score so far."

Crawley came to the crease after six balls following the early departure of captain Daniel Bell-Drummond.

He faced challenging conditions and a miserly White Rose attack led by Ben Coad, Jordan Thompson, Dom Bess and skipper Steve Patterson, who won the toss.

His 171-ball innings underpinned Kent's 224-7 from 89.1 overs at close. Patterson was the pick of the home attack with 2-33 from 17 overs alongside three wickets for Coad before rain ended play early.

Former Yorkshire Championship winner Jack Leaning also contributed 47 for Kent to end a run of single-figure scores.

Bell-Drummond edged the opening over’s final ball from Coad - back in Yorkshire’s team after missing three games with a pectoral injury - to Harry Brook low down at third slip, leaving Kent 4-1.

They fought hard thanks to Crawley’s half-century and Leaning’s first score above 12 since the opening innings of the season, a run which included a pair against Yorkshire in last month’s home defeat.

The pair shared 79 inside 32 overs either side of lunch for the fourth wicket.

Kent fell to 65-3 shortly before lunch, with Patterson and Thompson getting Jordan Cox and Joe Denly caught at second slip, the latter driving at a ball well wide of off stump.

Crawley played one particularly memorable on-drive for four off Coad and was strong on both sides of the wicket.

He also had to navigate the threat of Test team-mate Bess, whose off-spin was introduced 40 minutes before lunch.

Leaning took 29 balls to score his first run before Crawley reached 50 off 112 balls. But Crawley's departure was soft after all the hard work as he miscued a drive at Patterson to Root at cover, leaving Kent at 144-4 late in the afternoon.

Leaning’s dismissal was also soft as he was caught at slip aiming a drive at Brook’s medium pace two overs before the new ball, to end a partnership of 62 with Ollie Robinson.

The wicketkeeper made 38, including a straight six off Bess, but fell as one of two late wickets for Coad - another weak dismissal as he chipped a ball down the leg side straight to mid-wicket.

Darren Stevens also departed before the close, edging Coad behind, for just nine and Kent will hope their tail can wag in the morning to get them to a competitive first innings score.

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