Veteran batsman Rob Key hit a superb century on the opening day of Lancashire's trip to Canterbury in the LV= County Championship, as the Division Two leaders were put to the sword by their hosts.
Key (113) and Joe Denly (65) shared a partnership worth 149 runs for the second-wicket stand, as Kent closed on 235/3 on a frustrating day for the Red Rose county, who need four more points to guarantee first-division status after picking up two late wickets to secure a bowling bonus point.
Lancashire won the toss and elected to bowl first in overcast conditions and with plenty of rain falling yesterday the decision to take to the field seemed to be a wise one. However, several rain delays prevented either side from making any real progress before lunch, as Kent edged their way to 7/0 at the first interval.
Daniel Bell-Drummond (37) scored all seven runs to be accumulated by Kent in the morning session, with less than five overs being bowled before lunch. Nine overs were lost due to the frustrating stoppages and by the time play resumed the overcast conditions had ceased, only to be replaced by blue sky and sunshine.
The side with the lowest number of batting points in Division Two stunned the league leaders with their application on a relatively flat wicket, sharing 72 runs for the opening partnership. The pair reached the fifty partnership in the 17th over, as Bell-Drummond continued to lead the assault, scoring six fours in his innings of 37 before he was trapped plumb lbw on the back foot by Tom Bailey (1-52).
This solitary breakthrough was the only glimmer of hope for Lancashire for most of the day, who were unable to get the better of experienced duo Key and Denly. The pair added another 50 runs before tea as Key, who has scored over 19,000 first-class runs, reached fifty for the fourth time this season in 113 deliveries with four boundaries.
Lancashire's seamers were largely very unfortunate; Alviro Petersen shelled the chance to remove Key off the bowling of Glen Chapple and several outside-edges found their way to the boundary, rather than the hands of the awaiting slip cordon. Kent reached 100 when Simon Kerrigan's first delivery was dispatched to the fence through mid-wicket by Denly, who reached the 42nd fifty of his first-class career on the opening day of this fixture.
The hundred-partnership followed after tea, as Denly also progressed to a half-century, reaching this milestone in 79 balls with eight fours in an incredibly positive innings after a nervous start. Key's tempo continued to increase and he was soon playing with the same vigour as Denly, who rejoined Kent over the winter after a spell at Middlesex.
Key surpassed his previous highest first-class score of the season and went on to reach his first century of the summer in 179 balls with an all-run four, with the 36-year-old batsman scoring 11 boundaries on his way to an important century for his side. The miserable conditions returned; a combination of bad light and then steady rain threatened to end the day with yet another lengthy delay, but the players returned for another 8.3 overs.
Lancashire were struggling to justify their decision at the toss when play resumed with Kent on 208/1, but Jordan Clark (2-46) struck a timely breakthrough and two wickets in six deliveries in the closing stages of the first day, removing both of Kent's settled batsmen. Denly was pinned on the crease, Lancashire's second lbw of the day, before Key edged to Karl Brown at gully with the final ball of the same over with the score at 224/3.
These breakthroughs gave Lancashire an important bowling bonus point, meaning that they only needed four more points to secure promotion to the first division, as Kent closed on 235/3 with James Tredwell (3*) and Sam Northeast (7*) unbeaten at stumps.
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