County Championship: Tom Lammonby hundred helps Somerset end day one on top against Kent

Tom Lammonby's century against Kent was the sixth of his first-class career

Tom Lammonby repaid Somerset's faith with his first century of the season as the hosts ran up 214 for two on a rain-shortened opening day of the County Championship match with Kent at Taunton.

Having played in all 12 previous games without reaching three figures, the 23-year-old opener got the monkey off his back in style by hitting a brilliant 109 off 151 balls, with 16 fours.

Lewis Goldsworthy marked his first Championship appearance of the season by making 70 not out and contributing to a second-wicket stand of 132.

Kent's woes were compounded by an injury to Michael Hogan, the 42-year-old seamer limping off disconsolately with what looked like a hamstring or thigh problem having bowled 11.2 overs for 30 runs.

Morning rain led to a 13:45 BST start, with the day's play initially being reduced to 63 overs, and Kent's bowlers looked to have ideal conditions when they took the field with the pitch green and the floodlights on beneath overcast skies.

But, having left out their specialist spinners, the visitors' seam attack failed to get enough balls in the right areas to capitalise on any movement, allowing Lammonby and Tom Abell to make a positive start to the Somerset innings.

First-innings runs have long been a problem for Somerset, but Lammonby and Abell comfortably brought up a half-century stand in the 14th over, the former moving to a fluent fifty off 52 balls, with 10 fours.

Their partnership had reached 73 when Abell, on 20, played a loose shot to an Arafat delivery wide of off stump and edged to Tawanda Muyeye at first slip.

By then Somerset were well placed and Goldsworthy, batting higher in the order than usual having spent much of the season in the second XI, helped Lammonby build on their encouraging start.

The pair produced another half-century stand off 83 balls, both producing an array of attacking shots in taking the score to 127 for one off 31 overs at tea.

Lammonby gave a chance on 76 at the start of the final session when Daniel Bell-Drummond spilled a sharp chance at gully off Jaskaran Singh before a two through the leg side off Hogan took him to his highest score of the summer, beating the 78 made against Lancashire at Old Trafford.

A single off Joey Evison took Lammonby to his hundred off 137 balls. It had been an apparently effortless innings packed with sweetly-timed strokes, but hopes that he would still be there at stumps ended when he nibbled at a decent delivery from Bell-Drummond and edged through to wicketkeeper Harry Finch.

Goldsworthy's innings lost nothing by comparison and he was still there, having faced 150 balls and hit nine fours, when bad light ended play for the day at 17:55 BST.

Report supplied by ECB Reporters' Network.