Kent dismissed Sussex for 333 to give themselves an outside chance of victory going into the fourth and final day at Tunbridge Wells.

The Kent attack toiled hard and stuck to their task well on a sweltering day in the Garden of England, eventually dismissing the visitors in the penultimate over of the day. That left Kent 242 ahead, and means that captain Sam Northeast has the opportunity to enforce the follow-on on the last morning, tomorrow, to give his side a chance of claiming a third County Championship win of the season.

New Zealand international batsman Ross Taylor made an unbeaten 142 in the Sussex reply; the mainstay of the visitors’ innings, while the Kent attack chipped away with wickets throughout the day.

With Sussex resuming on 69/1, the first breakthrough of the morning came half an hour into the day’s play. Kagiso Rabada, who ended the pick of the bowlers with 3-81 from 28 overs, trapped Chris Nash lbw for 55 with a ball that kept a little low.

With the temperature soaring the players took a drinks break on around the hour mark, and with that a rejuvenated Kent and Mitch Claydon broke through once more. Luke Wells went to drive, missed, and was bowled for 22, leaving Sussex 105/3.

New man Luke Wright immediately offered a chance to Claydon lofting the first ball he faced narrowly over seamer, but he survived and helped his side reach lunch, alongside Taylor, on 157/3.

Resuming after lunch, Tredwell and Claydon were tasked to catch Sussex cold on an otherwise scorching day, but success proved hard to come. The Kent spinner did have one leg-before shout on Taylor declined, with the ball seemingly turning too much for the umpire’s liking.

Meanwhile, at the other end Wright went to a 66-ball half-century, before Taylor brought his own fifty up from 106 balls, as he swept Tredwell for four and in turn helped Sussex reach 200.

With the new ball taken by Darren Stevens and Rabada, Taylor and Wright aimed to see it off in a war of attrition, with the wicket continuing to offer little to the bowlers. However, Kent’s patient approach reaped rewards as Wright went for a Rabada short ball outside off-stump and could only edge it behind to Callum Jackson. He fell for 60, and saw his side on 219/4 as Ben Brown joined Taylor.

The Sussex wicket-keeper did not last long however, trapped lbw by Rabada on 5, before Chris Jordan came and went for 7, edging Stevens to Tredwell at second slip to see the visitors 253/6 at the tea interval.

Kent’s bowlers continued to plug away throughout the evening session, as both runs and wickets were at a premium. Again, pressure built by the Kent attack eventually told as Stevens smartly ran out Will Beer for 5, at which stage Sussex were 273/7, with Taylor still there on 93 but a hefty 152 runs short of the follow-on.

Taylor understandably looked to farm the strike, and brought up his century before Danny Briggs became the eighth wicket to fell. He had received some attention from his physio after being struck on the helmet by the pacy Rabada, but next over was undone by Tredwell who had him caught behind by Jackson to give the slow bowler a well-deserved wicket.

Imran Qayyum picked up his first of the innings as Steve Magoffin was trapped lbw for 1 to leave the visitors nine down, before Tredwell closed the innings out in the penultimate over of the day, trapping last man in Stu Whittingham lbw offering no shot for a duck.

With the pitch still not offering a huge deal for the bowlers but showing encouraging turn for the spinners, Kent will be hoping to dismiss their opponents for a second time in as many days tomorrow, as they hunt their third win of their Specsavers County Championship Division Two campaign.

Specsavers County Championship Division Two, Kent v Sussex at Tunbridge Wells, Jul 17-20 2016:

Stumps, day three: Sussex 333 (Taylor 142*, Wright 60, Nash 55) trail Kent 575 (Northeast 190, Dickson 81, Denly 78, Stevens 63, Blake 61; Briggs 5-169) by 242 runs.

Full scorecard available here.

Kent: Dickson, Ball, Denly, Northeast*, Stevens, Blake, Tredwell, Jackson†, Rabada, Claydon, Qayyum

Sussex: Nash, Finch, Wells, Taylor, Wright*, Brown†, Jordan, Beer, Briggs, Magoffin, Whittingham