KENT and Martin van Jaarsveld in particular made it a day of records in Cardiff as the visitors continued to put struggling Glamorgan to the sword.

By the mid-point of the game Kent appear well in command having reduced the Welsh side to 175 for three in their first innings having themselves posted a massive first innings score of 568 all out.

The Kent total, their best ever against Glamorgan, beating their 524 for six in Canterbury 12 years ago, was built around a career-best 262 not out from van Jaarsveld.

Scored from 429 balls over nine-and-half hours, the former South African Test bat hit 28 fours and hardly once hit the ball in the air in surpassing his previous best innings of 238 not out for Northerns against Griqualand West in November 1999.

It was the third double century of his career, all of them unbeaten, the highest score by a Kent player against Glamorgan, surpassing Carl Hooper’s unbeaten 236 in 1993, and the highest first-class score by any batsman this summer.

It was an object lesson in concentration and fully deserved reward for a man who practices as hard as he plays.

In taking his season’s run aggregate to 796, van Jaarsveld also helped Kent to a maximum five batting bonus points and featured in a county record eighth wicket stand with Min Patel, who sadly fell 13 short of a maiden first-class hundred.

The pair added 159 in 40 overs eclipsing the 1924 record of Alan Hilder and Albert Wright against Essex at Gravesend by two runs.

Even when Patel found a leading edge to loft a gentle return catch to home skipper and bowler Robert Croft Glamorgan’s agony was far from over.

Though Amjad Khan perished in Croft’s next over, van Jaarsveld then teamed up with last man Martin Saggers to add 77 for the 10th wicket, the tail-ender contributing a season’s best 45 as van Jaarsveld refused to yield.

Needing 419 to make Kent bat again, Glamorgan made a decent fist to the start of their reply as openers Matt Elliott and Daniel Cherry weathered a hostile stint from Khan to add 39 before 25-year-old Cherry feathered an Andrew Hall leg-cutter to the keeper.

Australian left-hander Elliott reached 28 before David Hemp refused a single to cover leaving Elliott floundering mid-wicket as van Jaarsveld’s throw beat him back to the striker’s end.

Nine overs later Michael Powell’s miserable run of form continued when Khan, back for a second stint, ran one in through the gate to clip off stump – the ninth time this season Powell had had his stumps rearranged.

Hemp then found an ally in Indian Test star Sourav Ganguly as the two left-handers made it through to stumps with some attractive counter-attacking and a brace of half-centuries.

Hemp’s came off 86 balls with eight fours, while Ganguly took just 68 deliveries and included a straight six off Patel, whose left-arm spin he treated with disdain as the pair added an unbroken 96.

If the maestro can survive the first half-hour on day three, supporters from both sides may be in for a batting treat on what remains a sublime Sophia Gardens pitch as Glamorgan bat on, still 393 in arrears.

SCORECARD

Kent first innings

D P Fulton c Wallace b Harrison 0
R W T Key c Davies b Thomas 6
M van Jaarsveld not out 262
M J Walker c Hemp b Davies 20
D I Stevens c Hemp b Croft 80
N J O’Brien c Elliott b Cosker 16
A J Hall c Wallace b Harrison 15
J C Tredwell lbw b Thomas 27
M M Patel c & b Croft 87
A Khan c Ganguly b Croft 0
M J Saggers b Cosker 45
Extras 10

Total 568 all out after 158.3 overs

Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-16, 3-60, 4-203, 5-232, 6-269, 7-326, 8-485, 9-491.

Bowling: Harrison 23-4-72-2, Thomas 19-299-2, Croft 46-6-161-3, Davies 23-5-73-1, Cosker 44.3-6-149-2, Ganguly 3-0-8-0.

Glamorgan first innings

M T G Elliott run out 28
D D Cherry c O’Brien b Hall 7
D L Hemp not out 57
M J Powell b Khan 6
S C Ganguly not out 61
Extras 16

Total 175 for three after 48 overs

Fall of wickets: 1-39, 2-64, 3-79,

Bowling: Saggers 13-4-38-0, Khan 11-4-34-1, Hall 11-1-42-1, Tredwell 6-2-10-0, Stevens 2-0-7-0, Patel 5-0-34-0.