Jon Lewis, the former Gloucestershire captain, hit a blistering, unbeaten 61 off 49 balls with two sixes and ten fours but it was no more than an act of defiance as Kent wrapped up a comprehensive victory over the LV County Championship second-division leaders ten minutes before lunch.

Gloucestershire still needed an improbable 201 to win when they resumed on 131 for five and they quickly slumped to 179 for eight against the off spin of James Tredwell and the seam of Azhar Mahmood and Simon Cook.

Tredwell removed Vikram Banerjee when the nightwatchman tried to force him off the back foot only for the ball to strike Martin van Jaarsveld at silly point on the knee and ricochet to slip. Steven Snell soon fell leg-before padding up to Azhar and Gemaal Hussain edged Cook to second slip.

Only James Franklin was standing firm but he became a mere onlooker once Lewis mounted his assault. Eight of his first nine scoring strokes raced to the boundary and he completed only his eighth fifty in 187 first-class matches by sweeping Van Jaarsveld for six.

Franklin had contributed only nine to a ninth wicket stand of 57 in 13 overs when he tried to drive Tredwell through the off side, got an edge and was very well caught by Geraint Jones, the wicketkeeper, and three overs later Kirby edged Azhar's second delivery with the second new ball to second slip.

That gave Azhar figures of five for 39 in the innings and seven for 74 in the match and justified Kent's decision to engage the former Pakistan all-rounder, who only has a one-day contract, on a match by match basis in the championship.

His batting suggested that he was still in Twenty20 mode but his bowling played a big part in a victory that has moved Kent within nine points of Gloucestershire at the top of the table with a match in hand.

“It was important to peg Gloucestershire back and I would have taken this position had you offered it at the start of the season,” Rob Key, the Kent captain, said. “We're winning games of four-day cricket, which is great, because in the past we have tended to draw too many. To win three from six, mostly without an overseas player, is a good effort.”

Kent: First Innings 231 (M van Jaarsveld 53)

Second Innings 266 (M van Jaarsveld 62; S P Kirby 5 for 44, V Banerjee 4 for 58)

Gloucestershire: First Innings 166 (S J Cook 5 for 22)Second Innings (overnight 131-5)

Second Innings
V Banerjee c Key b Tredwell 1
J E C Franklin c Jones b Tredwell 41
S D Snell lbw b Azhar 8
G M Hussain c Van Jaarsveld b Cook 8
J Lewis not out 61
S P Kirby c Van Jaarsveld b Azhar 0
Extras (b 6, lb 5, w 6) 17
Total (82.3 overs) 255
Fall of wickets: 1-20, 2-79, 3-107, 4-123, 5-128, 6-150, 7-161, 8-179, 9-236.
Bowling: Azhar 16.3-5-39-5; Khan 5-1-29-0; Tredwell 34-9-84-4; Cook 16-3-45-1; McLaren 8-2-29-0; Van Jaarsveld 3-0-18-0.Umpires: M J D Bodenham and J W Holder.