Alistair Brown made light of the chaos that delayed the second day at The Oval, crashing a century as Surrey took command of their clash with Kent.

Traffic chaos in central London meant only captain David Fulton and Ed Smith, of the visiting side, were at the ground for the scheduled start time of 1100 BST.

Brown, kept waiting for one-and-a-half hours on his overnight 49 by the unforeseen interruption, simply motored to his second first-class century of the season.

Last man out for 188, he contributed more than half of his side's 361, with 29 fours and one six fuelling the total.

After hours

Play eventually got underway at 1230 BST after the visitors arrived in dribs and after a burst water main created gridlock in the capital.

The officials also adjudicated play would be extended by half-an-hour on the second day and eight overs would be added to the allotment of 104 on the next two days should it be necessary.

Adding 281 for the final five wickets with the lower order, Brown's imperious driving accounted for the majority of his boundaries.

Former skipper Matthew Fleming did the majority of the damage, taking four for 68 and, other than Brown, only tailender Jimmy Ormond passed 30.

Ormond's fourth wicket of the match, obtained when Rob Key played around a full delivery in the evening gloom, added to the hosts' advantage.

And Kent will resume on day three 79 for one, 129 behind.

Surrey: I J Ward (Capt), J N Batty (Wkt), M R Ramprakash, N Shahid A D Brown, R Clarke, M P Bicknell, I D K Salisbury, Saqlain Mushtaq J Ormond, E S H Giddins.

Kent: D P Fulton (Capt), R W T Key, E T Smith, A Symonds M J Walker, M A Ealham, P A Nixon (Wkt), M V Fleming, M M Patel A Khan, M J Saggers.

Umpires: B Dudleston and J F Steele