Kent secured a draw on the fourth and final day of their Championship match with Leicestershire, taking 10 points from the Division Two encounter.
Both Mark Cosgrove (122) and former Kent man Neil Dexter (131) made centuries for the home side, Dexter on his home debut for the club, before Leicestershire declared at 401/9 shortly before the tea interval.
Two Kent wickets fell early in the evening session as Leicestershire pushed for an unlikely victory. However, Sean Dickson and visiting skipper Sam Northeast then comfortably saw Kent through to the close; the sides shaking hands on the draw with the light beginning to fade shortly before 5:30pm.
The draw was always the most likely of results heading into the final day, though that didn’t stop Leicestershire doing all that they could to give themselves the slim chance of victory.
Cosgrove, 99 not out overnight, went to three figures early in the morning session, though he struggled to find the fluency he had displayed in flaying the Kent attack around the Fischer County Ground the previous afternoon.
His was the first wicket to fall on the day, bowled by Mitch Claydon for 122 as he attempted a misjudged pull. One wicket quickly brought two for Kent, as Mark Pettini came and went for just 2, inside-edging the same bowler back onto his stumps.
Former Kent man Dexter then reached his landmark; his century coming from 163 balls, as he saw his side through to lunch alongside fellow ex-Kent player Niall O’Brien.
Both fell early in the afternoon session to Darren Stevens, with O’Brien (25) first bowled by the all-rounder, and Dexter then trapped lbw to end his stay at the crease.
As the home side looked to score quick runs to force a result, Ben Raine (24), Clint McKay (0) and Zak Chappell (7) all came and went. Kent picked up another bowling bonus point in the process, as Matt Coles, Mitch Claydon and Darren Stevens each ended up with three wickets in the innings.
An unbeaten 17 from 9 balls by another ex-Kent man, Charlie Shreck, helped Leicestershire to pass the 400 mark and in the process collect their bonus batting point, at which point they declared, leaving a maximum of 45 overs for them to bowl Kent out in the evening session.
Though first-innings centurion Daniel Bell-Drummond (4) and Joe Denly (9) were both removed by McKay to leave Kent 25/2, Dickson (34*) and Northeast (31*) put on 60 together to ensure there were no further scares for the visitors, before both captains shook hands on the draw.
Speaking at the close of play, Kent batsman Sean Dickson, who was dismissed having handled the ball in the first innings, was philosophical about the performance.
“The boys would have preferred a win, but we’ll take it on the chin and move forward”, he said.
“There’s a lot of positives to take out of the game as well as negatives, and we can work on the negatives.
“As for the first innings, I wasn’t really thinking too straight, it just happened so slowly – I thought what I was doing was right, and as I did it I realised it wasn’t.”
Kent begin their first home County Championship match of the season against Glamorgan at Canterbury, starting this Sunday.
Result, Leicestershire v Kent at Leicester, Apr 24-27 2016:
Leicestershire 401/9 (Dexter 131, Cosgrove 122; Coles 3-95) drew with Kent 264 (Bell-Drummond 124; McKay 3-61) and 85/2 (Dickson 34*; McKay 2-19).
Leicestershire: Horton, Robson, Dexter, Cosgrove*, O’Brien†, Pettini, White, Raine, McKay,Chappell, Shreck
Kent: Bell-Drummond, Dickson, Denly, Northeast*, Stevens, Blake, Rouse†, Haggett, Coles, Claydon, Riley
Points: Leicestershire 13, Kent 10
Full scorecard available here
Photograph courtesy of Sarah Ansell Photography