Kent’s latest Championship game ended in defeat on Saturday afternoon with a 101 run defeat to Derbyshire.

Set 298 to win going into the final day’s play, Kent started already on the back foot having lost nightwatchman Adam Riley for nought in the only over of the Kent innings on Friday night.

A fifty run partnership between Joe Denly and Daniel Bell-Drummond steadied the ship, but when the latter went for 20 Kent soon found themselves on the slide.

Sam Northeast contributed eighteen before he was bowled by Wes Durston and when Joe Denly went for 68 Kent had slipped to 110 for 4.

Losing Alex Blake for five just before lunch saw the visitors in trouble at 127 for 5 and the writing was on the wall arly in the afternoon session when Azhar Mahmood went for just nine.

Wickets kept falling despite Darren Stevens hitting a rapid fire fifty with skipper Geraint Jones and Adam Ball going for 4 and 1 respectively.

When Stevens fell for 54, Kent’s faint hopes went with him and it was all wrapped up shortly after 2pm when David Balcombe was the final man out.

The highlights Kent will take out of this game will be Joe Denly’s spectacular 199 in the first innings assisted by a blitzed 97 from Azhar Mahmood.

Nine more wickets for David Balcombe in the game will make it harder for Kent to keep him with Hampshire likely to want the seamer back at the Rose Bowl for next season.

From here, Kent have Sunday off before starting the historic floodlit Championship game with Glamorgan at Canterbury on Monday afternoon.

Kent won the toss and elected to field.

Umpires: N L Bainton, M A Gough.

Derbyshire: Borrington, Lineker, Madsen, Durston, Redfern, Whiteley, Sutton (C/W), Clare, Groenewald, Palladino, Footitt.

Kent: Denly, Bell-Drummond, Northeast, Blake, Stevens, Mahmood, Jones (C/W), Ball, Coles, Balcombe, Riley.

Result: Derbyshire 535 all out & 181 all out, Kent 419 all out & 196 all out. Derbyshire won by 101 runs.