LV COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION ONE, Chelmsford:
CLOSE OF PLAY, DAY THREE: Kent 474 and 150-5, Essex 341
Kent 8 pts, Essex 6 pts
Match scorecard

Cambridge-born Tom Westley came through the academy at Chelmsford

Essex batsman Tom Westley hit 132 but could not prevent Kent gaining a big first innings lead on day three of the Championship match at Chelmsford.

Westley's century was the second of his first-class career, matching his 132 against Derbyshire last season.

Support came from Ryan ten Doeschate (66) and David Masters (36no) before Essex were dismissed for 341.

Kent closed on 150-5, with Sam Northeast on 49 not out, a lead of 283 with five wickets in hand.

Essex began the day needing to reach 325 to avoid following on. They succeeded largely through the efforts of Westley and ten Doeschate, despite some fine bowling by paceman Azhar Mahmood who claimed 5-63.

After James Foster was caught at slip with only four added to the overnight total, Westley and Ten Doeschate revived Essex with a stand of 115.

When Westley's superb effort, spanning six and a quarter hours, was ended by a brilliant diving catch by Joe Denly at mid-off, Essex were still 22 short of avoiding the follow-on with only two wickets left.

Some belligerent strokes by David Masters ended the prospect, before Mahmood removed Chris Wright and Danish Kaneria.

But, when Kent set out to build on their lead, they gifted wickets to their opponents.

Denly was needlessly run out when called through for a single by Robert Key, who then put up a simple catch to Masters at mid-on.

Wright produced a good delivery to have Martin Jaarsveld taken at first slip by Alastair Cook, but then Geraint Jones pulled a long hop into the hands of Billy Godleman at midwicket.

Kent lost their fifth wicket when Darren Stevens was removed lbw by a Kaneria delivery that kept low, but 20-year-old Northeast reached the close just one run short of his second half century of the match.

Kent captain Rob Key told BBC Radio Kent:
"We would have probably liked to have bowled them out a bit quicker than we did.

"Then we could have been a few more ahead and had a longer bowl but we'll be looking to go and have a bat tomorrow, try and get as many as we can as quickly as we can, and then have a couple of decent sessions at them.

"They did well, they made it hard for us to get those last few wickets which made the difference really.

"If we can get to around a 350 (lead) then there's probably enough going on, the wicket's deteriorating enough that hopefully if we can put them in a position where they are out of the game almost, without taking too much time out of the game.

"Then we can set attacking fields and be able to use a bit of the up and down bounce that is there."

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