Sami skittles Northants to seal Kent win

Kent 254 and 405 for 6 dec (Key 173, Fulton 109) beat Northamptonshire 250 and 264 by 145 runs (van Jaarsveld 114, Sami 6-99)
Scorecard

Kent took over from Lancashire at the top of the County Championship, after Mohammad Sami produced another withering spell of hostile fast bowling to seal a 145-run victory over Northampton at Wantage Road.

After serving notice of his intent with 4 for 39 in the first innings, Sami followed up with the fine figures of 6 for 99 in 31 overs, to complete his second ten-wicket haul in first-class cricket. Northampton had resumed on 39 for 2 and never genuinely threatened to reach Kent's challenging target of 410, despite a gutsy century from Martin van Jaarsveld.

van Jaarsveld, who had reached the close on Friday on 18 not out, faced 296 balls for his 114, and was only prised from the crease when he stepped on his own wicket to give Min Patel the third of his three wickets.

The dismissal came at an inopportune moment for Northants, however, as they had just lost Graeme Swann, lbw to Sami for a hard-hitting 41. Swann and van Jaarsveld had stemmed the tide with a 76-run stand for the sixth wicket, but their dismissals precipated a collapse of five wickets for 21 runs. Martin Saggers, who had taken the first of the twenty Northants wickets, wrapped up the proceedings by bowling Carl Greenidge for 4.