Kent v Lancashire

MATTHEW WALKER scored a magnificent unbeaten and chanceless 139 to help Kent recover from a patchy start to the opening day of their LV Championship match with Lancashire at sunny St Lawrence.

Walker went to the crease with Kent in trouble at 30 for two and having just witnessed Martin van Jaarsveld's second golden duck inside 24 hours.

The gloom deepened when, 20 runs on, Walker lost his skipper Rob Key, but the left-hander then teamed up with Neil Dexter and, toward stumps Simon Cook, to turn the course of the day and give Kent the edge as they closed on 320 for seven to gain three vital batting bonus points toward their bid to stave off relegation.

Having been invited to bat first by visiting skipper Mark Chilton, Kent lost three wickets in the morning session and might have been even worse off as the red rose bowlers got the ball to nip around off the seam and swing through the air.

Having got off the mark with a lucky inside edge that just missed his stumps and went for four to fine leg from Glen Chapple's first ball of the game, Joe Denly went on to add three more boundaries before falling for 19.

In trying to withdraw the bat, Denly only succeeded in edging low to slip where V V S Laxman took a good, sharp catch.

Then, to Chapple's next ball, van Jaarsveld went half-forward to an in-swinger to be given leg before without scoring to suffer his second successive first-baller.

Key had looked comfortable in reaching 17 but he then drove at a loosener from Oliver Newby to edge to Laxman at slip.

Walker and Dexter played and missed extensively either side of the lunch break, but once the hardness went off the ball they settled down considerably to add 123 in 41 overs before Dexter's run of three consecutive championship 50s ended when he lost his off stump to a Dominic Cork off cutter.

Geraint Jones once again looked uncomfortable against spin and was soon snared by the wiles of Muthiah Muralitharan for seven, but Walker teamed up with fellow left-hander James Tredwell to add 45 for the sixth wicket before he too went leg before to Muralitharan's shooter.

Unperturbed by the losses, Walker marched on to the 24th century of his career with a straight drive for four off Newby, it was the 15th boundary of his 193-ball ton that took a shade over four hours.

Sadly, Walker dithered when McLaren wanted two soon afterwards and Paul Horton's throw to the keeper's end ran out McLaren as he tried to regain his ground to make it 235 for seven.

Kent received something of a reprieve soon after 6pm when Muralitharan went off for treatment on his upper arm, allowing Simon Cook and Walker to cash in against the tiring visiting seamers.

Cook pulled England seamer Sajid Mahmood for a towering six over long leg and Walker cut savagely at anything short to take his boundary count up to 20 fours and a six by stumps.

Scorecard:
Kent first innings
J L Denly c Laxman b Chapple 19
R W T Key c Laxman b Newby 17
M van Jaarsveld lbw b Chapple 0
M J Walker not out 139
N J Dexter b Cork 42
G O Jones lbw b Muralitharan 7
J C Tredwell lbw b Muralitharan 19
R McLaren run out (Horton) 2
S J Cook not out 37
Extras 38

Total 320 for seven after 104 overs

Fall of wicket: 1-30, 2-30, 3-50, 4-173, 5-186, 6-231, 7-236.

Bowling: Chapple 19-3-62-2, Cork 20-8-36-1, Muralitharan 33.3-5-81-2, Newby 18-4-59-1, Mahmood 13.3-2-56-0.

Bonus points: Kent 3pts, Lancashire 2pts.