Joe Denly hits fine century as Kent beat Gloucestershire

Joe Denly and Sam Northeast put on 208 for the third wicket to lead Kent to victory over Gloucestershire in Bristol.

Denly, who returned to the county over the winter after a spell with Middlesex, scored 117, while Northeast made 88 to see Kent home by eight wickets after they had been set 241 for victory in their LV= County Championship Division Two match.

Gloucestershire's hopes of adding to their lead disappeared after one ball on Thursday morning as Ivan Thomas had Matt Taylor caught by Daniel Bell-Drummond for seven.

Bell-Drummond's hopes of leading Kent's reply from the front were soon over, with the opener being dismissed by Craig Miles for three off the 10th ball of the innings.

Brendan Nash made 25 before falling to Liam Norwell, caught behind by Gareth Roderick, but that would prove to be the last success for Gloucestershire as Denly and Northeast both found runs easy to come by.

Denly hit 17 fours and three sixes in his 197-ball knock, a season's best, while Northeast smashed 14 fours in his 146-ball stay at the crease as Kent claimed 20 points for their first win of the season.

There was also further disappointment for Essex as they fell to an 89-run defeat at the hands of Glamorgan in Cardiff.

Essex started the day on 51-2 but despite a host of starts, none of their batsmen were able to go on to a century and the consistent home attack picked up wickets at vital times.

Dan Lawrence and James Porter took the score on to 112-2 before Andrew Salter dismissed the former for 43, and Essex slumped to 130-5 with Porter bowled by Hogan for 34 and skipper James Foster caught and bowled by Salter for only nine.

That left Essex pinning their hopes on Ryan ten Doeschate and he put on 68 in partnership with Kishen Velani, who made 31 before being bowled by Hogan.

Callum Taylor joined Ten Doeschate and they added 44 before the youngster was dismissed by Graham Wagg for 22.

Ten Doeschate ended unbeaten on 74 but he got little help from the rest of the Essex tail as they were bowled out for 274 - Hogan (3-67) and Salter (3-54) proving best of the bowlers.

Victory, and the 22 points they earned, lifted Glamorgan into third, although it was their first win of the season as well after opening up with four draws. Essex are tied for bottom spot with winless Leicestershire on 38 points.

Northants remain second after picking up 10 points from a rain-affected draw with Surrey at the County Ground.

Surrey made no attempt to try and force a result on the final day and instead Kumar Sangakkara and Jason Roy took the chance to spend valuable time in the middle and reach centuries.

Sangakkara made 111 off 186 balls but his innings was eclipsed by Roy, who came in at six and smashed a superb 140 at nearly a run a ball.

The limited-overs star hit 17 fours and a six and he was part of a 170-run partnership with the Sri Lanka great, who hit his second ton of the season.

Roy and Gary Wilson (74) added a further 77 before he departed, caught off the bowling of Rob Keogh, with Surrey eventually declaring on 499-6 and bringing an early end to the match.