THE gulf in class between the two championship divisions was apparent as Kent enjoyed the best of their two-day friendly with Derbyshire in Canterbury.

Winter recruit Martin van Jaarsveld opened his century account with an accomplished 116 on Saturday as he and county skipper David Fulton (89) posted 185 for Kent’s second wicket.

Batting first after winning the toss, Kent took advantage of some short-pitched Derbyshire bowling, a slow wicket and a short Old Dover Road boundary to amass 514 for eight declared in just 96.1 overs.

After the demise of the second wicket partners, Kent accelerated with a bright fourth wicket stand worth 118 between Matthew Walker (69) and another close season signing, Darren Stevens (64).

All-rounder Matt Dennington impressed with the bat, scoring 57, before going on to put in a tight bowling stint in the Derbyshire reply.

Amjad Khan nipped out Michael Di Venuto (7) early on, then Min Patel bagged three for 29 to restrict Derbyshire to 345 for six in reply.

Chris Bassano top scored for the visitors with a rustic 101, but otherwise Derbyshire’s batsmen were kept in check for much of their 96 overs.

Importantly for Kent, Martin Saggers enjoyed his first bowl in anger since last July, sending down 11 luckless overs to finish with nought for 36.

Simon Cook, signed from Middlesex last autumn, also bowled tightly without reward as Kent downed a couple of catches on a bitterly cold Sunday.

The sides will meet again this Sunday, April 17 in Derby for the opening game of this year’s totesport League Division 2 campaign.