Ben Compton’s unbeaten 114 helped Kent to a seven-wicket victory over Northamptonshire in the LV= Insurance County Championship at Canterbury.

Compton produced a crucial stand of 167 with Jack Leaning, who made 67 not out, as Kent recovered from 60 for three to successfully chase down a target of 227, the hosts closing on 227 for three.

Earlier Rob Keogh had scored 116 not out and Gareth Berg 56 as Northamptonshire posted 331 in their second innings, the duo sharing a stand of exactly 100 that set up an initially taut run chase. Joey Evison had Kent’s best bowling figures with 4-62.

The visitors had looked heavy underdogs at the end of day two, when they were still 58 behind with eight second innings wicket remaining, but after batting through Saturday they began the final morning on 300 for seven, 195 in the lead. Although Kent polished off the tail relatively quickly, the additional 31 runs Northamptonshire stockpiled ensured a jittery couple of hours for the home fans, until Compton and Leaning bedded in.

Berg reached 50 from the second ball of the morning, with a single off Michael Hogan, but the bowler took revenge in his next over, sending Berg’s middle stump flying.

Joey Evision wrapped up the innings with two quick lbws, removing Jack White for 7, then getting Chris Tremain for a duck.

It was a target that looked some way off when Zak Crawley had his stumps splayed by Tremain, having made just three. Daniel Bell-Drummond responded with a rapid 32 from 31 balls but Berg then ripped out his off stump and when Tremain then bowled Joe Denly for five, Kent still needed 167.

Compton’s initial caution faded after he reached 50 by pushing White through the covers for four. He was nearly out on 53 when he edged Keogh just past Ricardo Vasconcelos at thirst slip and he responded with a reverse-swept four.

Leaning’s diligence meant Kent were on a far healthier-looking 158 for three at tea and he subsequently nudged a single off White to bring up his half-century.

On Easter Sunday last year Compton had scored 115 in a heroic but doomed rearguard action against Lancashire. This time round he swept Keogh to fine leg for four to reach three figures and the victory was confirmed shortly afterwards when Leaning scrambled a single off the same bowler.

Kent take 19 points, Northamptonshire three.

Kent’s Ben Compton said: “There was a lot riding on that, especially considering last time we played Northants here there was a similar scenario on day four when it went down to the wire, so we’re very chuffed that we could get over the line.

“It was a fantastic team performance. There are a lot of waves in this game, a lot of ebbbs and flows and I thought we started really well in the first innings with the ball and Zak set things up beautifully for us. Their second innings was a bit of a toil and that’s what happens in four-day cricket. They batted really well and credit to them.

“That was the kind of wicket it was, you just had to show application. You had to be patient. We’re obviously very chuffed and it was an all-round team performance, so we’re very happy with that.

“Jack and I set very small targets. If you break things down they become a lot easier to achieve so said the next ten runs or the next ten overs. If you set small targets and you chip away at things the innings flows naturally from there. Credit to them, they stuck hard and they bowled well. It was hard work. It was slow scoring and you had to be patient.

“It was a good game of classical four-day cricket. It was a long winter so it was great to get time in the middle at this time of year and you’ve got to enjoy the runs when you get them because opening the batting’s tough. You can get out early so when you do get a start it’s important to kick on.

“Personally I felt well-seasoned in terms of cricket. I spent a couple of months in Zimbabwe, which was fantastic, I had a good five or six games out there and then I spent sometime in Cape Town for about three weeks, so I had a lot of cricket over the winter. We’re very grateful that we had the freedom to go and play. The difference lies in the Dukes ball the slightly slower wickets, the nibblier wickets. That all takes quite a lot of adjusting to, so you try and be humble and work hard to get in.

“I think the hundred was very much a consequence (of the match situation.) It wasn’t something I thought about to be honest. It was a bit of a tense moment when Jack first came in. It can go one of two ways in that situation, so it was very much about setting small targets as I said earlier. You just stick with that and see where it takes you. Obviously I’m very pleased to get a hundred, but it was fantastic that it was in a winning cause.”

Northamptonshire’s Jon Sadler said: “Firstly I want to say how proud I am of our lads because we were behind the game after day one, got the rough end of the toss, but we fought back well. The result makes it look like an easy win, but up until tea in day four we were right in that game.

“We thought that we’d try to get them five down needing a hundred, and we thought we’d take that, but credit to Kent, they’ve played well and stuck in there, particularly their bowlers when they were a bowler down.

“Their two tall quicks kept running in all day, so credit to them but I’m proud of how we went about our business.

“We thought there was enough time left to win the game and the intention was to win the game. We turned up thinking we don’t need to force anything and there’d be a natural progression in the game.

“We wanted to bat for an hour and see where it takes us and if we were n a position to put our foot down we’d have taken it, but ultimately the game ran its natural course.

“Keogh’s hundred was fantastic, he played with some really responsibility and real intelligence. We know how good he is, but the way he went about is business under pressure was great. Tremain, to get five in his first innings on debut was fantastic. He came off with cramp, but there was no way he wasn’t going to get back out there and do his bit.

“It was a good lesson for the younger lads really, that sometime you have to bowl with a bit of pain. He was up there today ripping his nail out or something, there was blood everywhere, just to get himself ready to bowl. The heart he showed was fantastic, we know we’ve got a good’un there.”