James Hamblin kick-started a potentially match-winning day's cricket by pinch-hitting - at number 10!

Hamblin got the Hampshire innings off to a blistering start in the first three Benson and Hedges Cup group games, only to see his good work go to waste.

But his clean hitting proved to be Hampshire's catalyst in the championship match against Kent at the Rose Bowl yesterday. Resuming his innings at the start of the day on 12 not out, he smashed 38 off 28 balls before losing his leg stump to Martin Saggers.

Then Hamblin's teammates forced Kent to follow on after bowling them out in 39 overs with Dimi Mascarenhas the chief destroyer.

Like Hamblin, he took his B&H form into the championship in taking 4- 49.

By the close, Kent were still 79 runs adrift of Hampshire's 345 with just six second innings wickets left.

But it was Hamblin's rampant stroke play that put the visitors on the back foot.

Hamblin had been dropped having added nine to his overnight score. Min Patel put him down at mid-on off the bowling of Ben Trott, but the 23-year-old responded by smashing 15 off the next four balls.

Hamblin, playing his third first class match, pulled two boundaries through mid-wicket after sending a cover drive to the rope - and he later lofted Trott for a six over long on. His 61-ball innnings, his first first-class fifty, consisted of eight boundaries - but Kent did not find batting quite so easy.

Hamblin's bowling was as disappointing as his batting was electric but his teammates responded to his pyrotechnics by taking 14 Kent wickets in the day's remaining 81 overs.

Mascarenhas took four of the six wickets to fall with his wobblers from the pavilion end. John Crawley was fielding at short leg, the customary position for the new boy, and he took two catches to remove David Fulton and Andrew Symonds.

Symonds offered the strongest resistance but, when he went for 39, Kent were 86-6 and sliding to a total well short of the 195 needed to avoid the follow on.

Shaun Udal and Neil Johnson took two cheap wickets apiece and Hampshire took their chances behind the stumps - wicketkeeper Nic Pothas being backed up by the slip cordon with Johnson, Kenway and White all snaffling snicks.

Kent were more used to the vagaries of the Rose Bowl second time round and were just the two wickets down when the 100 came up.Mascarenhas was indebted to Robin Smith's diving catch at mid-on for his second-innings scalp but it was Johnson who did much of the damage after tea. The Zimbabwean followed up his cheap first innings wickets by taking two chances in the slips either side of removing dangerman Symonds' leg stump. Kent were still 79 runs adrift at stumps after bad light ended play with ten overs of the day's allocation remaining.