Kent battle for chance of draw against Hants
Ben Compton hit an unbeaten 71* for Kent on day three at Southampton
- Published
Vitality County Championship Division One, Utilita Bowl (day three)
Hampshire 505-8 dec: Vince 211, Brown 110; Evison 4-83
Kent 343: Leaning 118, Khushi 53; Barker 4-85 & 132-2: Compton 71*
Kent (4 pts) trail Hampshire (7 pts) by 30 runs
Jack Leaning and Ben Compton gave Kent a chance of saving a County Championship draw against Hampshire.
Leaning led the resolve in the first innings by returning from injury to score 118 before Compton bedded in with 71 not out in the second after a 162-run first-innings deficit saw them follow on.
The duo ended the day with an unbroken partnership of 84, with Kent 132-2 and the deficit down to just 30.
After James Vince’s swashbuckling 211 on day one, and a fast-paced day two, the third never progressed from sedate with six wickets falling and 269 runs scored.
Leaning returned on 73 and survived Vince dropping him at first slip on 84 but was otherwise restrained and oozed leadership while marshalling the tail.
Leaning had missed the last seven weeks with a broken hand, which he suffered during the drawn match with Worcestershire in May.
In that innings he had scored an unbeaten 179 and he made it back-to-back hundreds in a 207-ball knock.
Charlie Stobo’s sensible 28 was ended when James Fuller pinned him leg before and then Grant Stewart fell the same way to Mohammed Abbas.
Matt Parkinson took more time out of the game with Leaning, and minimised the deficit, with a no-thrills 29.
The pair put on 44 to frustrate the hosts but Leaning’s majestic innings was ended when Kyle Abbott splayed his stumps and Kent were bowled out for 343 when Parkinson fended Keith Barker (4-85) to first slip.
The last four Kent wickets put on 137 to almost avoid the follow-on, but despite their efforts Vince was able to turn them back around.
Feroze Khushi top-edged Barker to long leg and Daniel Bell-Drummond was bowled by Liam Dawson, but Compton joined Leaning to take any sting out of the day.
Compton reached 50 in 114 balls with an uncharacteristic reverse sweep and though Leaning was dropped by Vince for the second time in the day, he was otherwise solid to all but wipe out the deficit.
Hampshire will need eight wickets and likely a bit of a chase on the final day, and may be without Barker who pulled up during a delivery midway through the evening and did not return.
Report supplied by ECB Reporters' Network.
