Daniel Bell-Drummond hit a second successive Vitality County Championship century to continue the run-fest on a benign Chelmsford pitch where only two wickets fell all day.

  The Kent captain reached three-figures against Somerset at Canterbury last week, and helped his side fight back with a second ton after suffering three and a half sessions of unremitting toil in the field at Chelmsford.

  However, in company with fellow centurion Ben Compton for 71 overs, Bell-Drummond gave Essex a taste of their own medicine as they put on xxx for the second wicket against an unresponsive Kookaburra ball. Needing 381 to make Essex bat again, Kent had knocked off 245 by the end of day two for the loss of one wicket with Bell-Drummond 134 not out and Compton 100.

  Essex’s 530-7 declared was anchored for 73 overs by Matt Critchley’s career-best 151 not out – beating his unbeaten 137 against Northamptonshire in his second appearance for Derbyshire as an 18-year-old back in 2015. His marathon innings encompassed 212 balls and included just five fours, but four sixes.

  Shane Snater had claimed the first Kent wicket just before lunch when Twanda Muyeye shouldered arms to one that went straight on and rapped his pad. But it was the last wicket to fall.

  Compton and Bell-Drummond dug in doggedly initially at around two an over until the Kent captain hit Simon Harmer straight for four and added another through midwicket in the same over. When Compton flicked Jamie Porter off his legs, Kent had added 14 runs in six balls. It marked a sea-change as the gloves came off.

  Bell-Drummond reached his half-century from 99 balls with a push into the covers off Aaron Beard, and then cross-batted the same bowler through midwicket for his sixth boundary. Compton, who was dropped at slip on 20, batted just under three hours for his fifty, which took up 147 balls.

  When Critchley strayed down either side of the wicket, Compton came out of his self-imposed shall and nudged the ball three times to the boundary in quick succession. Suddenly, as the evening session progressed in bright sunshine, it was the turn of the Essex attack to suffer.

   Bell-Drummond’s 10th four, chopped through the covers for three off Beard, took him to a 168-ball century, and also brought up the 150-run stand for the second wicket. A six over long leg followed by a full-toss for four off Critchley kept up Bell-Drummond’s dominance. Harmer also came in for similar treatment with another maximum disappearing into the far distance.

  Compton reached his century on the last ball of the day, having batted for 237 minutes with 12 fours.

  Essex had batted on for 70 minutes in the morning, adding 109 runs, losing just the wicket of Harmer and claiming full batting points before the declaration put Kent’s demoralised fielders and bowlers out of their misery. Only George Garrett, who took two for 80, went at less than four runs an over.

  Critchley made hay, hitting three sixes over long leg, one out of the ground, in his record knock while also sharing half-century partnerships on the day with Harmer and Snater. As the declaration approached Critchley and Snater put on 52 from 28 balls with the latter’s 26 coming off just 16 balls.

  The only bright moment for Kent during the morning was when 18-year-old spinner Jaydn Denly claimed a debut first-class wicket as Harmer advanced down the wicket, swiped expansively and was stumped.

Essex Matt Critchley hit his highest first-class score and said: “Obviously I’m pleased with that, it’s always nice to get a big score on the board to try and set the game up. It’s not quite gone as we planned with the ball but personally, I’m pretty pleased with my innings.

  “The game has certainly changed quite a bit from early yesterday when we were 10 for 2. It is a pretty good wicket  and it was good to figure in a century partnership with Dean Elgar and then get involved in a number of half-century partnerships later.

  “I just try to bat for as long as I can to accumulate runs. I’m not really a stats man but I did speak to the batting coach about  wanting to get bigger hundreds so it’s obviously nice to tick that off.

  “We are still 285 runs ahead so hopefully, things will go our way in the next couple of days.  The second new ball is due immediately tomorrow and perhaps  that might prove to be a big part of the game. We’ll keep sticking at it and see where were are Monday.

  “The Kookaburra ball is definitely different but I don’t actually think it is a bad thing really. If it’s a good wicket, as a batter you should be able to score runs.

 “We saw last week that if you are a high-class bowler like Sam (Cook) and Jamie (Porter), you can still bowl a side out. I get that there a few boys in the dressing room that want the Dukes to come back but I don’t think it (the Kookaburra) has been bad for a few rounds.”

Kent captain Daniel Bell-Drummond, who hit an unbeaten 134, said: “It was a good day for us. They got a lot of runs on the board and started well, so it was crucial myself and Ben [Compton] got stuck in, got over the new ball and took it from there.   “They bowled quite well, though it is quite a nice pitch to bat on. They kept the rate down for a little bit, but we got through that period and we both played really nicely.

  “All you can do is take it b all-by-ball. It can be quite daunting facing such a large first-innings score from Essex, but that is what you do when you bat first – try and put runs on the board. And they did that.

  “We just had to try and dig in and take it over by over and try and be not out at the end of the day. When we came out to bat after lunch we weren’t looking that far ahead. But it’s always a pleasure batting with Ben, we complement each other really well. I ‘m just glad we could get through to the end of the day.”