Sam Northeast hit his highest First Class score and Darren Stevens notched a half-century on a truncated day three of Kent’s game against Gloucestershire.

Kent skipper Northeast, 26, was eventually out for 189 on a rain-affected third day at Canterbury which saw 46 overs bowled in total – mostly in the drier afternoon period, with the final six coming after a further rain break in the evening.

Kent eventually reached 478/8 at the close, with a lead of 141 runs,  though they look to be a man down after Adam Riley left the field on the first day with a side strain. He is not expected to bowl in the Gloucestershire second innings.

The draw is still set to be the most likely result with just one day’s play remaining, though with Kent already having a handy lead, helped in no small part by some lusty late order hitting from Matt Hunn, a strong bowling performance in the morning could make things interesting for the home side.

In far more bowler-friendly conditions than had been present on the first two days, Kent resumed in a strong position at 304/3, trailing the visitors by just 33 runs. The home side lost Alex Blake (45) without the middle-order batsman adding to his overnight score, as he edged Craig Miles to Chris Dent at second slip in the fourth over of play.

Stevens then joined Kent captain Northeast at the crease, and the pair added 62 together in just under 20 overs. The going was somewhat tougher for the batsmen than it had been on the previous day, with overcast conditions making run-scoring more difficult than it had been previously.

Northeast passed his previous best of 176, made against Loughborough MCCU in 2011, and was 11 runs short of a double century when Gloucestershire finally ended his 303-ball stay at the crease. Josh Shaw was the man who made the breakthrough; the Kent captain bowled as he looked to attack the on-loan Yorkshire seamer, at which stage his side were 376/5, with a lead of 39 runs.

Adam Rouse, once of Gloucestershire, made 8 before he was caught behind off Craig Miles, while Stevens went to his second consecutive fifty, having also reached the landmark in last week’s win over Glamorgan.

He brought it up with a cut for six, but was out shortly afterwards attempting to repeat the same shot, caught on the point boundary by Cockbain off Shaw.

Kent narrowly missed out on picking up maximum bonus points, as they reached the 110-over cut-off point three runs short of the 400 required to claim a fifth and final batting point. They had only required seven more runs with two overs left to find them to pick up the final batting point, before disciplined bowling from Miles and David Payne to Calum Haggett left Kent a hair’s breadth away.

Mitch Claydon joined Haggett at the crease following Stevens’ dismissal, and he made 8 before being bowled by off-spinner Jack Taylor’s first ball of the day.

The rain came again shortly after Claydon’s wicket, with the players off the field for around another hour. When play resumed shortly before 6:20pm, some were surprised to see Kent’s batsmen returning to the crease, with a declaration in an attempt to set up the game seeming like a tempting option for some.

Haggett and Hunn had other ideas.

The pair went on the attack in the 20-minute final session, adding 52 in the six-over spell, and further extending Kent’s lead to 141 before stumps. Hunn impressed in particular, smashing the final three balls of the day from Jack Taylor for three huge sixes – the last two connecting with the roof of the Colin Cowdrey Stand. Their partnership was 54 when they left the field, with Kent ending the day 478/8; Hunn unbeaten on his highest First Class score of 32, and Haggett on 33.

Both will be part of a Kent attack who will be on the hunt for early wickets on what is expected to be a better final day, weather-wise, tomorrow. An overnight declaration could be the most likely scenario if Kent do look to push for the win.

 

Stumps, day three, Kent v Gloucestershire at Canterbury, May 8-11 2016:

Kent 478/8 (Northeast 189, Latham 90, Stevens 54) lead Gloucestershire 337 (Marshall 112, Taylor 52; Haggett 3-66) by 141 runs

Kent: Bell-Drummond, Latham, Denly, Northeast*, Blake, Stevens, Rouse†, Haggett, Claydon, Riley, Hunn

Gloucestershire: Bancroft, Dent, Cockbain, Roderick*†, Marshall, Hankins, Noema-Barnett, Taylor, Miles, Payne, Shaw

Points: Kent 7*, Gloucestershire 5*

Full scorecard available here.