County Championship: Sam Cook takes 10-60 in match as Essex thump Kent

Essex paceman Sam Cook finished with match figures of 10-60

Essex needed just 28 balls on Thursday to complete an innings and 260 run victory over Kent in their County Championship match at Canterbury.

Once the rain stopped and play started on day four, the visitors claimed the remaining two wickets quickly to bowl Kent out for 149.

Sam Cook took 10-60 in the match, including 7-33 in the second innings, while Jamie Porter claimed 3-50.

Jordan Cox was Kent's top scorer with 65, but the hosts are now deep in the Division One relegation mire, having taken just a single point from the contest while Essex claimed 23.

Torrential rain delayed the start until 12:38 BST, with Kent resuming on 137-8 in their second innings, needing another 272 just to make Essex bat again.

In reality, with Matt Milnes' mobility drastically reduced due to a stress fracture in his back, Kent's only hope of escaping with a draw was to bat for as long as possible and hope the rain returned.

Milnes, in what may be his final act as a Kent player before he moves to Yorkshire next season, lasted three overs before getting a bottom edge to Cook that was taken by a tumbling Nick Browne.

Although dark clouds were hovering, the rain stayed away and the victory was sealed when Cox edged Porter and fell to a juggling catch by Matt Critchley in the slips.

Report supplied by the ECB Reporters' Network.