KEATON Jennings' attempt to dig in for dear life brought him little joy as Durham fell victim to the no-toss option after rain prevented play until 4pm on the opening day of their home match against Kent.

Looking to end his lean run, the axed England opener faced 67 balls for 17, but his exit was swiftly followed by two more as Durham struggled to 61 for four in 32 overs.

Jennings' two boundaries both came off the edge before becoming the first of two victims for Mitch Claydon.

Returning to haunt his former county four years after leaving, Claydon celebrated his 100th first-class appearance by abruptly halting Durham's satisfactory start after they were predictably put in.

Kent dispensed with the toss but under clearing skies they did not initially find the assistance they might have anticipated. They did oblige the batsmen to graft, however, as there were few scoring shots of note.

Durham had reached 35 for one in the 24th over, but then lost three in five, capped by Paul Collingwood departing for 11, still 24 short of 1,000 championship runs for the season.

He looked comfortable against Claydon, but edged an excellent ball from New Zealander Adam Milne to wicketkeeper Sam Billings.

In Milne's opening sepll an edged four over the slips by Jennings provided the only runs off the tall seamer prior to having fellow Kiwi Tom Latham lbw in his sixth over.

Latham was off the mark first ball with a square-driven four off Darren Stevens, but added only four runs before he was out when half forward looking to turn Milne to leg.

Steel survived a sharp chance on five to Joe Denly at third slip when driving at Calum Haggett, but was unable to capitalise.

Durham brought in Mark Wood and James Weighell for injured duo Paul Coughlin and Matthew Potts. Graham Clark was recalled at the expense of Jack Burnham and dug in for the last eight overs to remain unbeaten on six.