Veteran seamer Tim Murtagh recorded a 10-wicket match haul to reach his 1,000th in all formats for Middlesex and set up a second successive LV= Insurance County Championship victory as they triumphed against Kent.

The Seaxes’ player-coach, who is now in his 17th season with the county and turns 42 later this summer, scythed through the visitors’ line-up with six for 42 – and match figures of 10 for 82 – as they crumbled to 128 all out at Lord’s.

Ben Compton and Jack Leaning had dragged Kent back into contention with their solid 87-run partnership before seven wickets tumbled for only 22, leaving Middlesex to chase a modest target of 86.

They achieved that in 24.3 overs, with Sam Robson compiling an unbeaten 41 and Pieter Malan 24 not out to steer their side across the line by nine wickets.

Trailing by just three runs at 40 for two overnight, Kent moved into the lead when Compton nudged Ethan Bamber to the boundary, but overall the morning session proved a tough slog for the batting side, who were restricted to less than two an over.

Middlesex’s four seamers all bowled with accuracy throughout, with Tom Helm – wicketless in the visitors’ first innings – unlucky to claim just a single victim this time despite beating the bat on several occasions.

Helm also induced a sharp edge from Leaning on 33, but Robson, flinging himself to his right at second slip, was unable to complete what would have been a stunning one-handed catch.

However, Robson gobbled up the next chance that came his way to remove Leaning, two short of his half-century, off Ryan Higgins’ bowling and Middlesex seized on that opening by picking up two more wickets before lunch.

The normally free-scoring Jordan Cox was restricted to six from 36 balls before Bamber had him caught at slip and Murtagh struck with the penultimate delivery of the session, pinning Kent captain Sam Billings lbw for a duck.

Compton, who dropped anchor to play a typically obdurate innings of 38 in more than three and a half hours, paid the price for an uncharacteristic lapse just after the interval, dabbing Murtagh straight to gully.

The seamer claimed a five-for – the 39th of his first-class career – in his next over, knocking back Joey Evison’s off stump and followed that up with his landmark wicket four balls later as Matt Quinn was leg before swinging across the line.

Those sandwiched a second for Bamber, who had Grant Stewart caught behind and last pair Wes Agar and Michael Hogan threw the bat, both depositing Murtagh into the stand to pad out Kent’s paltry total by 19 before Helm belatedly collected his solitary wicket to wrap up the innings.

Robson, having survived a scare when Agar’s first delivery zipped through him and away for byes, gradually settled into the groove with a sweetly-struck cover boundary off Hogan and four more off Quinn.

Although Mark Stoneman perished for 13, slapping Quinn’s half-volley to mid-off, Malan joined forces with Robson for an unbroken partnership of 57 that sealed their side’s win shortly after tea.

Middlesex bowler Tim Murtagh, who took 10-82 in the match including his 1,000th wicket for the county (in all formats), said:

“I actually didn’t know – it wasn’t on my radar before this game, to be honest. It was more about just trying to get us another win and build on what we had achieved against Notts last week. 

“It’s nice to get past that landmark for Middlesex. I’ve enjoyed my time here, it’s been a long time and who knows how long I’ve got left, so I’m going to enjoy every wicket that I take at the moment.

“We had the best of the conditions, no doubt about that. It was a good toss to win and there was a bit of movement in the pitch, especially on that first day.

“But I thought the way we batted on that first innings was great – to end up 40 or 50 in front in the first innings was crucial really. Then we stuck to our plans well this morning and got our rewards towards the end, it was a good all-round team performance

“We’ve got a good squad of five or six seamers now that can play any game. We’ve still got guys to come in – Blake (Cullen)’s been injured and he’s a great prospect as well.

“It’s a good, healthy competition between the seamers. Ethan (Bamber), I think, has bowled magnificently this year already, he’s taken to Division One cricket really well and that step up.”

Kent opener Ben Compton, who scored 38, said:

“Today was probably the best day for batting. After a very tricky period of 40 minutes that we got through last night, we really hoped to make hay this morning.

“I think we let ourselves down today and we didn’t nail our skills often enough, to be honest. Me and Jack (Leaning) played quite nicely to see off that first hour but to be fair to Middlesex, they were the better team with ball and bat and they played very well.

“People have clicked at different times, but we still haven’t quite come together with a complete team performance, whether that be with bat or ball.

“We’ve got a very strong batting line-up and last year we had three or four guys close on 1,000 runs.

“I just try to do my best opening, which is a tough job in England and I really enjoy batting with Zak (Crawley). We work together quite well at the top because we have different styles and hit the ball in different places.

“We’ve got about a 10-day break now, with Hampshire and Surrey coming up, so those are going to be tough challenges and we need to improve from this week.”