Kent made another disastrous start to a championship innings in Hove on Thursday evening when they stumbled lamely to 65 for six in a dismal response to the Sussex total of 303 all out.

Makeshift opening pair Joe Denly and James Tredwell got underway when Denly clipped firmly through square-leg off Chris Liddle, but it would prove to be his only scoring shot.

A brief break for rain led to the loss of three more overs and, four balls later Kent started their slide into deep in trouble.

In his first over from the Sea End Robin Martin Jenkins ran one back off the seam to snare right-handed Denly leg before then, with a near identical delivery, Martin van Jaarsveld was caught on the crease and went without adding.

It was the South African's second golden duck in three championship innings and although Matt Walker came in to survive the hat-trick, Kent were already up against it.

Things worsened in the ninth over when Walker (6) cutting hard against Ragheb Aga saw Carl Hopkinson dive low to his left in the gully and pull off a stunning two-handed catch.

Darren Stevens came in to play a handful of blinding drives in reaching 21 but, as is often his way, he then pushed away from his body and with an angled bat-face to a Luke Wright delivery to steer a catch to Hopkinson in the gully.

At 53 for four Neil Dexter strode in for his first innings of the summer and join Tredwell, but the confidence of his tread belied his subsequent innings.

Hesitant against Wright's pace from the Sea End, he was clearly bamboozled by Mushtaq Ahmed's spin down the slope and soon went for four, leg before when prodding at a quicker ball.

Night watchman Robbie Joseph perished even quicker in near identical style, though at least he pushed forward, and so Kent will go into day three of the game still trailing by 238 runs.

Earlier, Kent made heavy weather of dismissing Sussex after pouring rain delayed the re-start until 2.45pm.

Resuming on their overnight score of 213 for seven Sussex, were all out after 100.1 overs and indebted to their former England keeper Matt Prior for an excellent century that took them beyond 300 and to a third batting bonus point.

The hosts lost their first wicket after 19 overs’ play when Ragheb Aga edged an attempted push drive against Ryan McLaren to Geraint Jones to end an eighth-wicket stand with Prior worth 76 in 22 overs.

Prior reached the 16th first-class ton of his career and his fourth against Kent from 169-balls and with 12 fours but, soon afterwards, he too nicked to Jones to give Azhar Mahmood - his first wicket for Kent.

The innings ended soon afterwards when Liddle (4) drove wildly at a full-length ball from McLaren to lose his off stump.

McLaren finished with two for 30, Joseph two for 63 and Arafat four for 88 leaving Kent to bat the 34 overs remaining in the day after tea.