County Championship D1, Canterbury, day one: Kent 291-4 v Middlesex

Ed Smith's first century of the season boosted Kent's bid to move off the bottom of County Championship Division One.

The home batsmen enjoyed the best of the opening day against Essex at Canterbury, reaching 291-4 by the close.

Coming in at the loss of Robert Key, following an opening stand of 66, Smith played a stylish innings, reaching three figures off 144 balls with 19 fours.

He shared a 138-run partnership with Greg Blewett before the South Australian fell to compatriot Joe Dawes for 60.

Dawes gained a third wicket when Smith was caught for 103 shortly before stumps, leaving Matthew Walker and Mark Ealham to bat out the day.

Opener Michael Carberry was the other wicket to fall, after hitting his second half-century of the summer.

Teams:

Kent: M A Carberry, R W T Key, E T Smith, G S Blewett, M J Walker M A Ealham (Capt), G O Jones (Wkt), J C Tredwell, M J Saggers B J Trott, A Sheriyar.

Middlesex: A J Strauss (Capt), S G Koenig, O A Shah, D C Nash (Wkt) E C Joyce, P N Weekes, B L Hutton, B W Gannon, Imran Tahir C B Keegan, J H Dawes.