Kent take innings win

Mark Ramprakash managed to score another century but could not stave off defeat for Surrey

Kent cruised to a comfortable victory over Surrey at Whitgift School despite a valiant century from Mark Ramprakash.

The hosts were dismissed for 319 as Kent won by an innings and 79 runs. The result left Surrey still searching for their first win of the LV County Championship season since their promotion to the First Division.

Ramprakash was again in superb form scoring a superb 108 from 239 balls, his 92nd first-class century, before he was the last man out caught on the mid-wicket boundary.

Together with Ali Brown the pair shared a stand of 129 in 37 overs before Brown was dismissed in the 63rd over.

Resuming on 147 for three overnight, and still 251 runs behind Kent's first-innings score of 564 for five declared, both Ramprakash and Brown looked to score in a determined fashion.

Brown especially was particularly keen to play his shots and cracked a superb four through the covers in the second over of the day.

He repeated the shot in the next over and quickly moved onto 30 before he edged just short of Andrew Hall in the slips.

James Tredwell clean bowled dangerman Ali Brown for 64

The Surrey veteran went to his 50 in the 58th over with another glorious cover drive and in doing so brought up the 100 partnership between the Surrey stalwarts.

With the score on 210, Surrey then suffered a blow with the dismissal of Brown for 64 in the 63rd over. James Tredwell, who had been introduced to the attack at the expense of Yasir Arafat, tempted Brown down the wicket but the right-hander completely missed the ball and was clean bowled.

Ian Salisbury, who had come in above the injured Rikki Clarke, struck a couple of huge sixes to get off the mark but he too tried one too many as two wickets fell in successive balls to the pace of Kent's Ryan McLaren.

First Salisbury on 16 missed a straight ball and was comprehensively bowled and next ball McLaren accounted for Clarke who played a horrible swish across the line and was given out lbw.

Matt Nicholson, top scorer in the first innings with 48, was not quite as lucky in the second innings despite striking a couple of leg-side boundaries. With the score on 248, Nicholson (13) became the seventh wicket to fall, holing out to McLaren at deep square leg off the bowling of Tredwell.

The eighth wicket fell with the score on 283 as McLaren had Neil Saker (13) taken at slip with the fifth delivery with the new ball. Simon Cook then had Nayan Doshi (11) brilliantly caught at slip by Martin van Jaarsveld.

Tredwell (3-53) and McLaren (3-89) were the pick of the Kent bowlers.