County Championship: Kyle Abbott takes 5-29 as Hampshire beat Kent by innings and 51 runs

Ben Compton's 89 off 194 deliveries gave Kent hope of rescuing a draw

Hampshire finally saw off Kent's final-day rearguard action to seal victory by an innings and 51 runs at Canterbury.

Trailing by 269 upon resumption, Kent rallied from 78-3 as Ben Compton (89) and Jordan Cox put on a stand of 116.

However, Keith Barker followed up his six-wicket first innings haul with the key removal of Compton, caught behind.

Cox (64) and Darren Stevens (41 not out) kept alive Kent's hopes of a draw but Kyle Abbott (5-29) mopped up the tail with three wickets in four balls.

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That late collapse was in stark contrast to the visitors' earlier efforts as Compton and Cox kept the Hampshire attack at bay for the entire morning session.

Hampshire had proven the St Lawrence surface was a batting pitch in their first innings declaration of 652-6 and Kent's fourth-wicket partnership gave them a real chance of avoiding defeat.

However, Compton fell just 11 runs short of what would have been a fourth century in five Championship innings this summer, after efforts of 129, 104 not out and 115 in Kent's opening two games.

Ollie Robinson lasted just six deliveries, also caught behind, this time off Felix Organ, but Cox and Stevens put on 57 for the sixth wicket to keep the result in doubt.

That partnership was broken by a contentious umpiring decision, with Cox given out to a diving Joe Weatherley catch after padding up to an Organ delivery.

Veteran Stevens did his best to prolong the inevitable and the visitors reached tea with three wickets intact but Abbott's burst just after the resumption handed Hampshire a second victory in three Division One games and left Kent still seeking their first win of the summer.

Kent batting coach Ryan ten Doeschate told BBC Radio Kent:

"Hampshire are a strong bowling unit. We missed some key moments - particularly being 230-3 on that first day. We wanted to finish the day stronger than that.

"But we showed great fight. The two guys who got stuck in and got runs were very unlucky to have their innings ended in both instances.

"But we are certainly not in a bad place. I've just looked at the metrics. We have batted 600 overs in the first three games which isn't a recipe for drawing two games and losing one, so there are a lot of positives to take."

Hampshire captain James Vince told BBC Radio Solent:

"Right from the start, having lost the toss on one of the flattest wickets we have played on in the last few years, to be able to bowl them out on day one was a massive moment.

"Every day we've done exactly what we needed to do, obviously big runs with the bat - the top order got runs and then the guys in the middle too. They were good batting conditions but you still have to get the runs and to get that much of a lead really set the game up.

"We knew it was going to be hard but we had lots of options and that over from Kyle Abbott over tea, we didn't expect it to happen quite that quickly but we got the rewards for a lot of hard work and persistence over the four days."