County Championship: Kent survive outcome after draw with Lancashire

Kent's spinners took all eight wickets in the Lancashire second innings

Kent secured their Division One safety despite managing only a final day draw against Lancashire at Canterbury.

It proved to be enough when relegation rivals Middlesex were narrowly beaten 80 minutes later by Nottinghamshire in an atmosphere of excruciating tension at Trent Bridge.

With seven bonus points in the bank, Kent knew they would be safe if they could match Middlesex's result against Nottinghamshire.

But it turned into a day of stomach-churning drama at Canterbury, when Notts lost eight wickets at Trent Bridge, where Kent knew that an away win would have been enough to relegate them.

Fans and staff, at least those who could stand to watch, duly crowded round laptops and smart phones.

Kent captain Jack Leaning prowled the balcony, and departing director of cricket Paul Downton stood grinning with the sheer tension of it all.

But they finally got the news they wanted to hear, when Notts breathlessly completed their two-wicket win.

While Luke Wells led the way for Lancashire by completing the 24th first-class century of his career, the Red Rose also had three half-centurions in their 390-8 declared.

Tom Bailey hit 78 to raise his career-best score for the third time this season

In Glen Chapple's final game as head coach, skipper Keaton Jennings finished on 74 and Josh Bohannon made an unbeaten 68, but fast bowler Tom Bailey again stole the show.

The Lancashire tail-ender hit 78 to raise his career-best score for the third time this season.

He began the summer with a best of 68 - against Northants at Old Trafford in 2019 - then got 75 against Warwickshire at Edgbaston in July. Then he made 77, again against Northants, at the start of September.

Lancashire finish fifth in the final table, with Kent eighth, seven points better off than Middlesex, who will now join Northants in Division Two next summer.

Lancashire opener Luke Wells made only his second Championship century of the season

Kent coach Matt Walker told BBC Radio Kent:

"It wasn't the greatest two hours of my life, watching that all unfold.

"It's out of your control, completely out of your hands, it's the worst part of the job. There's nothing you can do about it, apart from sit and watch and keep your fingers crossed."We thought we'd have to win at least one of these last three games. As it turned out, we haven't had to win any.

"But two really good performances gave us enough points to get our noses ahead going into this week and we knew when we matched their bonus points, that certainly made it more difficult for Middlesex.

"A lot of credit to them. They gave it a really good go and maybe deserved a bit better. But I'm glad of that back-end resistance by Notts. We also saw it a couple of weeks ago against us from Brett Hutton, which was painful at the time.

"I suppose relief is the overwhelming emotion. It's hard to be too jubilant. We've just hung on and stayed up. From where we were a few weeks ago, that was the job to do and we've done it. We can breathe easy now."

Kent captain Jack Leaning:

"I couldn't really bring myself to watch it. I hate the unknown, I can deal with the good and the bad but that bit in between is pretty shambolic.

"It's what makes sport so special. If it was cut and dry and the best teams always won and the worst teams always lost no one would ever watch it. Championship cricket has really showed that this week. There's been results you wouldn't expect and results that have caused a great deal of drama in various different dressing rooms around the country.

"Luckily Notts did us a favour, but we did ourselves a few favours over those last three games to pick up the points we needed and ultimately we kept ourselves up. It's not just Notts. It's us over the course of the season.

"We don't want to be fighting at the bottom of the table, but we're in Division One and we've got the opportunity to start afresh and push ourselves up the table."

Lancashire half-centurion Tom Bailey:

"I didn't want to bowl again to be honest, especially on a pitch like that. Me and Bosh (Josh Bohannon) just got our heads down and soaked it all up.

"For us, the game didn't really matter, but I know the way that Kent were seeing things with the Middlesex v Notts game looking like it was going to be a draw, it was a bit of a weird way to end the season.

"It was my highest first-class score by one run and I've done that a few times this year so I've got to buy the boys another round of drinks.

"A hundred would have been nice but I said to the boys afterwards I'd rather do it when there's something on the line and hopefully that day will come at some point."