Joe Denly and Daniel Bell-Drummond both hit centuries as Kent survived a mid-morning scare to earn a draw with Somerset in the Vitality County Championship at Canterbury.
Kent were in trouble on 10 for two and again at 70 for three, until a partnership of 222 for the fourth wicket took the sting out of the contest and they closed on 290 for four declared.
Denly beat his partner to three figures, posting 110 from 142 balls including 11 fours and a six, while Bell-Drummond made 107 from 169, with 14 fours.
Earlier Kasey Aldridge hit 57 before Somerset were bowled out for 403, a lead of 119. Nathan Gilchrist had Kent’s best bowling figures with 64 for three.
The draw was the clear favourite at the start of day four and one “win predictor” app claimed Kent’s chances of winning were precisely zero. This was unduly pessimistic: there was an admittedly improbable scenario where Somerset might have collapsed in pursuit of around 150, but if any side had a realistic chance it was the visitors.
They resumed on 374 for seven and immediately went on the attack. Aldridge, who was on 50 overnight, drove the first ball of the day for four before he was brilliantly caught at mid-wicket by Jack Leaning off Gilchrist.
Bell-Drummond then ran out Ned Leonard for one, throwing down the stumps from short mid on.
Jake Ball hit his first ball as a Somerset player for a six into the lower Frank Woolley Stand and a third batting point was secured when Josh Davey flicked Wes Agar to third man for a single, but the innings was wrapped up when Ball played on to Gilchrist.
Somerset clearly felt they had a chance as their batters sprinted for the dressing room and the more nervous home supporters were soon worried. Kent had a minimum 87 overs to navigate and both openers had gone in the first five.
Ben Compton went in the fourth, strangled by Ball to a delivery he clearly didn’t think he’d hit and Tawanda Muyeye then swatted Davey to Tom Banton at point.
Bell-Drummond and Jack Leaning calmed the situation by batting though till lunch, at which point it was 68 for two.
Somerset’s hopes soared again when Leaning perished in the second over of the afternoon, bowled by Lewis Goldsworthy for 32, but Denly joined Bell-Drummond and quickly wiped out the deficit.
Denly, who’d also scored a century in his last red-ball innings for Kent in the final game of the 2023 season, clearly felt attack was the best form of defence. He raced to 50 from 53 balls, bringing up his half-century when he glanced Lewis Gregory for four.
Bell-Drummond passed the same landmark when he took a single from the same bowler and by tea it was 228 for three. The tension had subsided and as one observer put it: “I’ve never been so delighted to be bored.”
Denly’s century arrived with arguably his worst shot of the day, an edge for two off Goldsworthy that flew over the slips and Bell-Drummond’s followed soon afterwards, when he hit Goldsworthy back over his head for four.
Denly was out in the final over when he edged Goldsworthy to Matt Renshaw in the slips, but with any hopes of a win for either side long gone, Kent declared at 4.50pm and the teams shook hands on a draw. Somerset take 15 points and Kent 12.
Kent’s Daniel Bell-Drummond said: “There was scoreboard pressure and only one team could win it so we just had to weather that storm, but once I got myself in I had good partnerships with Jack and Joe and managed to cash in.
“It definitely means a lot (getting his 17th first class ton) especially my first one as captain. I got hit on the head early on as well, which woke me up and was very much needed! Any ton’s special but especially when you have to work hard. I was on nine for about 45 minutes so it was good to get over that hurdle and try to wear them down.
“They’ve got a good attack and some good young bowlers but it was a nice wicket to bat on. Joe’s approach was massively important. He and Jack played some really counter-attacking knocks. It wasn’t just a question of batting time, we needed to score runs, so while I was just trying to grind it out and find my rhythm it was really important to have those two as partners. Jack started well, but especially Joe. He’s in excellent form and he went at nearly a run a ball. It took them by surprise a bit and it showed his international pedigree.”
“George (Garrett) bowled extremely well on debut, getting his first wickets for us and ended up with some tidy figures. He’d been showing signs in pre-season but it’s a weird one, he probably didn’t think he was nailed in on the team sheet, but he’s earned his place one hundred percent.
“We locked Matt in from one end and I think he’s going to have to get used to that but we had some great signs from him. He had some really nice dismissals, especially Renshaw and he’s got a massive role to play for us, so it’s great that he can get some confidence in Kent colours.”
Somerset’s Lewis Gregory said: “All in all it was a pretty decent three days. We’d have liked to have forced the issue today and it didn’t quite work out that way, but the lads can take a lot of confidence from this game going forward.
“For the first game of the season there were a few nerves flying around so for most of the batters to get time in the middle was really encouraging.”
(What does he make of the Kookaburra Ball on early season wickets?) “Can I swear? It is what it is. They’re trying to bring it in for whatever reason. It goes soft very quickly and there’s no seam on the ball so it becomes very hard work, but the guys have got to find a way. That’s something I’ve put on to them all year. When you’re on wickets that don’t really assist it’s finding a way to do a job.
“I thought we were fantastic in the first innings, to bowl them out for 280 on a pretty docile wicket with a Kookaburra was a really good effort and with two early poles today we were hoping for the same.”
(Would they have had a better chance of getting 20 wickets with Shoaib Bashir in the side?)
“Yeah, potentially. Look, we thought there was obviously a hell of a lot of moisture in the surface with the amount of rain they’ve had and with it being a three day game we didn’t think it would get to that, but yes, he would have been handy today. We made a decision to go with an extra seamer and I’m not sure it would have made a huge amount of difference, but yes, it would have been nice to have him.
“If it’s more of a full game at the Oval, which, with the weather it looks like it we’ll be, I imagine we’ll see him in the side.”