Twenty-one wickets fell on a frenetic opening day to Canterbury Cricket Week as LV County Championship Division Two leaders Kent and rock-bottom Middlesex both batted woefully.

On a dry, grey pitch that gave the pace bowlers a modicum of

assistance through additional bounce, batsmen on both sides appeared

determined to either play across the line or run themselves out.

Batting first after winning the toss, Middlesex suffered three run-outs and were skittled out for 155 with Amjad Khan and Azhar Mahmood bagging three for 41 and three for 46 respectively.

Yet the visitors, who were being skippered for the first time in the Championship by Eoin Morgan after injury to captain Shaun Udal, were

batting again by 6pm after rolling the hosts over for 141 to land a

shock 14-run first innings lead.

In the 18 overs through to the 7pm close, Middlesex restored some semblance of normality in reaching 50 for one, their only casualty Nick Compton (28), who was caught at the wicket by Geraint Jones for the

second time in six hours after top-edging a sweep against the spin of James Tredwell.

Though Middlesex will enjoy taking a 64-run lead into Thursday, this was a day the majority of batsmen will prefer to forget.

Indeed, umpires Barry Dudleston and Michael Gough blamed poor shot selection and slack running between the wickets for the majority of the

dismissals and will not be reporting the surface to officials at Lord's.

It was a run-out to the fifth ball of the day that sparked the continuing drama when Middlesex opener Sam Robson, in wanting a third run to deep mid-wicket, had to be sent back by Compton only to be run out by Rob Key's accurate 40-yard throw to the bowler's end.

Dawid Malan (2) and last man Steve Finn (0) also tossed their wickets

away, Malan falling to a direct hit from cover by Joe Denly, while Finn suffered the same fate after a shy at the stumps by Sam Northeast.

Had Kent held all their catches - they gave lives to top-scorer Gareth

Berg (57not out) and second-top scorer Murali Kartik (28) - then Middlesex

would have been shot out sooner, as it was they combined to add 52 in 10 overs and extend their side's innings into a 36th over.

Kent's openers Joe Denly and Key were taking guard by 2.35pm, but they too started disastrously when, in the fourth over, off strike at the Nackington Road End, Key (1) risked a single only to be run out when bowler Finn followed through to throw down the stumps at the striker's end.

Only three Kent players reached double figures, Stevens top-scoring with a patient 67 from 86 balls, he batted almost three hours for his 11 fours and featured in the best stand of the reply with Simon Cook (17).

The ninth-wicket pair added 48 in six overs before both fell in the 37th over of the innings from Kartik, who finished with three for 32, but it was Tim Murtagh who proved the pick of the visiting attack with three for 26.