Kent give themselves a chance in tense battle with Glamorgan
Stand-in captain Kiran Carlson took his first three wickets of the Championship season
- Published
Rothesay County Championship Division Two, Sophia Gardens, Cardiff (day three)
Kent 155 & 360: Finch 68, Stewart 63; Carlson 3-24
Glamorgan 327 & 25-2
Glamorgan (5 pts) need 164 more runs to beat Kent (3 pts) with eight second-innings wickets standing
Glamorgan go into the final day on a precarious 25-2 chasing 189 to beat Kent after the visitors ground out a decent second innings total of 360.
They were left 14 tricky overs to bat in the evening gloom, with Wes Agar and Matt Parkinson sending back Asa Tribe and Zain Ul Hassan cheaply.
Middle-order men Harry Finch (68) and Grant Stewart (63) were the main Kent contributors while Ben Compton, Chris Benjamin and Joey Evison all fell in the forties.
Glamorgan were forced to work hard for their wickets on a slow pitch with the Kookaburra ball, and without opening bowler Timm van der Gugten (foot injury).
Kiran Carlson (3-24) helped clean up the lower order after fellow off-spinner Ben Kellaway (2-83) went off following a marathon spell.
Kent began the day at 106-1, 66 runs behind, and lost just two wickets in each of the first two sessions to get a foothold back in the match.
Compton, who was leading the race towards 1,000 first-class runs, was fortunate to survive an inside edge off James Harris on 44 but could not take advantage as he was bowled for 48 off 147 balls by off-spinner Ben Kellaway.
It was a battle of patience with no slip fielders and a slow scoring rate and Daniel Bell-Drummond fell with the visitors still six behind, the captain looking dismayed to be given out for 22 as his attempted pull lobbed up to sub keeper Alex Horton, deputising for Chris Cooke (calf strain).
Chris Benjamin, like Compton, had lasted for more than three hours for his 46 when he drove at a wide one from James Harris and dragged it on to his stumps.
The new ball brought a rare clutch of boundaries as Joey Evison and Harry Finch put together a stand of 84 before Evison, on 49, drove Ul Hassan to cover.
Grant Stewart was dropped at slip off Kellaway on one and that cost Glamorgan as he added 68 more with Finch to give Kent something to bowl at.
Carlson, bowling after Kellaway left the field with a back issue, broke the stand as Finch chipped a return catch and claimed two more cheap wickets despite Stewart blasting three consecutive sixes.
The Australian-Italian all-rounder was last out trying to hit another maximum off Leonard while the injured Joe Denly watched on after coming in last.
It always looked likely to be a torrid time for Glamorgan and so it proved, with a ferocious spell from Agar who had Tribe caught at short-leg for four.
Spinner Parkinson's second ball had Ul Hassan leg-before for 10, before Carlson and night-watchman Harris hung on to leave an absorbing game still up for grabs going into the final day.
Cooke and van der Gugten are both expected to bat, with runners if needed.
Glamorgan captain Kiran Carlson told BBC Sport Wales:
"It's a good position I think. We did a really good job bowling them out when the wicket was pretty flat and they batted well to make us work hard for it.
"When the ball gets soft and the wicket's good, it's hard to force the agenda so hopefully that's good for us.
"It's nice to have a chase on the last day but it's going to be tricky with the ball spinning but we've got plenty in the tank.
"(The closing stages were) a part of the game I really enjoy, when you're under pressure it's tough but it was nice to get through with Jimmy (Harris) and hopefully we can put on a decent partnership."
Kent's Grant Stewart told BBC Kent Sport:
"We set out to bat to bat for most of the day, Benji (Benjamin) gritted it out and there were a lot of good partnerships with Joey and Finchy so we managed to accomplish what we set out to do and find ourselves in a pretty decent position.
"Everyone's found it hard to start then it's potentially a bit easier as you get going, but I was the beneficiary of some really hard work by the top order.
"Big Wes has been awesome with good pace and a bit of uneven bounce, so he's going to be a nightmare and we're happy with the position we're in.
"We're really looking to get another win because it's been a little while (since April)."