Northeast's landmark day as Kent pile up runs

Lancashire 25 for 0 trail Kent 570 for 8 dec (Northeast 139, Key 113, Stevens 92, Denly 65) by 545 runs
Scorecard

Promotion chasing Lancashire will go into day three of their LV= County Championship clash with lowly Kent with survival and batting points uppermost in their minds after the hosts continued to dominate events in Canterbury.

Season's best individual scores by Rob Key, Sam Northeast and Darren Stevens led to Kent's post-tea declaration on 570 for 8 - their second best total of the season.

Then, needing 421 to avoid the follow-on and four batting bonus points to clinch their promotion to Division One, Lancashire reached 25 without loss before bad light ended play seven overs before the scheduled close. The visitors will therefore go into day three trailing by 545.

The day was dominated by Northeast, however who, having proffered a tough chance to slip when on four and then another to cover point with his score on 17, went on to post his maiden Championship hundred of the summer.

In the process Northeast recorded 1,000 first-class runs for the summer as he featured in a sumptuous mid-session partnership with Stevens worth 183 in 38.2 overs.

"It's a pretty good pitch, but you have to be pleased in posting 570," he said. "We have an opportunity now, with two more days to go, to have a good crack at winning this. It'll be hard work to bowl them out twice, but hopefully James Tredwell, our spinner will come into play."

"It wasn't my most fluent of innings this year and, if I'm honest, I was more nervous in the 70s than I was in the 90s. It was a big moment approaching my thousand runs for the summer because I'd never got there before. So yes, it was an important day for me personally, but I'm more pleased with a big total on the board and our position in the match.

"We have recent history with Lancashire and there's still a sour taste after the T20 quarter final defeat here. We know what they need to get promoted, so it'd be nice if we can win the game, get one up on them this time and maybe make them wait that little bit longer."

Resuming in their overnight score of 235 for 3, Kent lost night watchman James Tredwell to a sharp catch at gully then Ben Harmison for 19, after the left-hander clipped a low chance to short mid-wicket off the bowling of Tom Bailey to send the hosts in at lunch on 332 for 5. Kent's sixth-wicket partners bossed proceedings thereafter, skipping along at a run rate approaching five-an-over. Stevens, with his score on 39, posted the 13,000th run of his illustrious first-class career and the milestones continued as Northeast posted his first century of the summer from 177 balls with 13 fours and a six.

Stevens duly went past 76 - his previous best this summer - and moved into the 90s with a swept six against spinner Simon Kerrigan but, in trying to repeat the dose to the next delivery, picked out Hasseb Hameed who took a comfortable catch at deep backward square leg.

After tea, Northeast advanced down the pitch looking to deposit from Kerrigan over the deep extra-cover ropes only to miss out and present a simple stumping to Alex Davies.

His namesake and Kent counterpart, Ryan Davies, added 17 to Kent's tally before he holed out to deep cover to gift Steven Croft his sole wicket and Kent's declaration soon followed.

While Jordan Clark, with 3 for 87, had been the pick of the Lancashire attack, it had proved a black day for Glen Chapple. He finished his 33-over stint with figures of none for 126. It was only the ninth time in the past 20 years that the 41-year-old had conceded 100 runs in an innings and the first time in his career that he had done so without taking a wicket.