County Championship: Kent build big lead against Division One leaders Surrey

Wes Agar has taken 15 wickets in the County Championship for Kent

Division One leaders Surrey were battling hard to avoid their first defeat of the season in the County Championship, taking six wickets in the final session after Kent had built a significant lead on day two at Canterbury.

The champions were all out for 145 in their first innings with Matt Quinn taking 3-22 and Wes Agar 3-32, while India's Arshdeep Singh took his first championship wickets - Sean Abbott was their top scorer with 34.

Tawanda Muyeye then hit a gleeful 79 and Daniel Bell-Drummond made 59 as Kent moved on to 197-6 in their second innings, a lead of 353, but a productive evening session gave the visitors hope going into day three, Dan Worrall claiming 3-53.

The 171st Canterbury Week continued at the Spitfire Ground and a crowd of 2,431 on day two, bolstered by around 1,100 schoolchildren and teachers, although the start was delayed by 45 minutes due to a brief but violent thunderstorm.

When play began, Surrey, who were 18-2 overnight, batted with minimal conviction.

Tom Latham was on three when Quinn had him caught by Muyeye at short leg and the paceman struck again when Jordan Cox took an acrobatic catch to remove Dom Sibley for nine.

Singh was rewarded for a spell of sustained menace when he had Ben Foakes lbw for three and Quinn and Muyeye then produced an almost exact imitation of the Latham wicket to get rid of Jamie Smith for six.

Surrey lurched to 60-6 at lunch and had not added to the score when Agar bowled Will Jacks with the 10th ball of the afternoon session, with a delivery that sent his middle stump pirouetting.

Jordan Clark and Abbott put on the biggest stand of the innings with 48 for the eighth wicket, until both were dismissed by Joey Evison.

Clark lingered for 25 before Evison hit his leg-side bail and Abbott went for 34 in his next over, after a one-handed catch by Cox.

Worrall and Dan Moriarty added 20 for the last wicket until the former tried to slog Singh, who ripped out his leg stump, leaving Surrey seven short of the follow-on target, although with 57 overs left and the St. Lawrence experiencing sweltering conditions it was no surprise when Kent chose not to enforce it.

They were 37 without loss at tea, and although Clark made the breakthrough with his first ball, getting Ben Compton caught for 17 by Atkinson at point, Muyeye started to put on an exhibition.

He reached 50 by cutting Abbott for four, but not for the first time in his career he fell when a century looked there for the taking when he hit Atkinson to Latham.

It was a major disappointment for the majority of the crowd and a cluster of wickets followed.

Denly went for six to Worrall, caught by a diving Foakes, and the Australian then produced an unplayable outswinger to get rid of Jack Leaning for one, with Cox on two when he gloved Abbott behind.

Bell-Drummond then fell in nearly identical fashion, leaving Evison and Hamid Qadri to bat out the rest of an almost interminable session, which finally ended at 7.37pm.

Report supplied by ECB Reporters' Network.