Luke Procter and Calvin Harrison both hit career-best scores of 261 not out and 153 respectively as Northamptonshire declared 684-2 against Kent before reducing the hosts to a lamentable 119-6.

When Nathan McSweeney hit an unbeaten 101 it meant the visitors’ top four had all scored centuries for the first time ever, and Procter’s score beat the previous record for a Northants player in this fixture, the 208 made by Ben Duckett at Beckenham in 2016.

The hosts then lost a cluster of wickets, including England’s Zak Crawley, who was bowled for 26, leaving them trailing by 565 at the stumps.

Bad light saw 12 overs lost from the morning session and Northants resumed on 409-1, with Procter on 131 and Harrison on 124.

Kent looked no more threatening than they had on day one. The second ball of the morning, from Jas Singh, went for four wides and Keith Dudgeon started with a no ball.

They only looked like taking a wicket once the visitors started to hit out and Harrison was the first and only man to go when he holed out to Joey Evison and was caught on the boundary by Tawanda Muyeye.

Procter reached his first ever double-century when he steered Muyeye through backward square for four and when he charged down the wicket to Jaydn Denly, Chris Benjamin missed the chance to stump him. He was on 247 and two balls later he smote Denly for four to pass 250.

When McSweeney pulled Denly for six, the visitors declared, just 38 short of the 722-6 they scored at the St Lawrence last year, the record for any side against Kent.

Harry Conway then removed Ben Compton for six, caught behind in the fifth over to leave Kent on 11-1 at tea.

Ben Sanderson had Sam Northeast caught behind for a 14-ball duck on his second St Lawrence debut and after Conway switched to the Nackington Road end, he bowled Crawley off-stump for 26 with one that jagged back.

Muyeye (48) looked well set until Sanderson had him caught by James Sales at backward point off a leading edge.

Sales then trapped Daniel Bell-Drummond for 19 and the sense of farce deepened when the first night-watch, Matt Milnes, was run out by McSweeney from point, off the first ball he faced after he was sent by back by Evison.

The second night-watch, Singh did survive till stumps but Kent will need to improve drastically on Sunday if they are to avoid a three-day defeat.

Report by ECB Reporters’ Network, supported by Rothesay.