Kent miss chance after van Jaarsveld hundred

Northamptonshire 355 and 148 for 2 (White 70, Peters 62*) lead Kent 417 (van Jaarsveld 107, Jones 103, Stevens 73) by 86 runs
Scorecard

There seems little to choose between the two weakened bowling attacks plying their trade on a St Lawrence belter here at Canterbury where willow continues to dominate leather to such an extent that the game will probably end in a draw on Friday.

Yet what has become apparent over the first three days of cut and thrust is the gulf in class between the two batting line-ups, exemplified in the run rates achieved by both teams. Making their debut in the second tier of the Championship Kent, in posting 417 for a first innings lead of 62, cantered along at a merry 3.8 an over courtesy of an excellent century from Martin van Jaarsveld and a brisk 73 from Darren Stevens.

Yet whenever the visitors occupied the crease the run rate slowed. They limped along at 2.7 per over first time around and were only marginally better second time around. So by tea half the modest crowd had trooped off home while many of those who remained nodded off as Northamptonshire chalked off the arrears and painstakingly built a slender 86-run lead of their own through to stumps.

Batting again by 3pm, the visitors soon lost Ben Howgego (5) to a run out. He fancied a risky second to deep mid-wicket but his opening partner Stephen Peters clearly did not. The result was that Key's throw beat him home by a couple of yards. Peters made amends by teaming up with Rob White in a stoic second wicket stand worth 134 in 40 overs that wiped out the deficit as both passed the half-century milestone in 104 and 109 balls respectively.

The partnership ended just before the close when White, playing a rare expansive drive, edged to first slip off the bowling of James Tredwell to go for 70, leaving Peters and night watchman David Lucas to bat out the remaining four overs without further alarm.

The quality innings of the day had, unsurprisingly in a game crammed with South Africans, been played by Kent's Kolpak right-hander Martin van Jaarsveld who put his former club Northamptonshire to the sword with a 17th championship century in five seasons.

van Jaarsveld joined forces with Stevens to feed hungrily on some inexperienced and profligate bowling from a visiting attack shorn of new ball bowler Johan van der Wath, who remained off the field having been taken to the nearby Kent and Canterbury Hospital for scans to an injured knee.

Without their spearhead the visitors served up a juicy blend of half-volleys and long-hops that allowed van Jaarsveld to plunder five sixes and eight fours in his 153-ball stay, while Stevens drove 11 fours in the most attractive stand of the game. Despite the presence of premier spinner Monty Panesar, Northamptonshire struggled for containment and could only muster 13 maidens in Kent's 108-over innings yet they still managed to whittle out their last four for 24 and limit the home lead to 62.

Stevens appeared far from pleased to be given out to a catch at the wicket and soon after van Jaarsveld nicked to slip where former South Africa team-mate Andrew Hall took a fine reflex catch. Hall's burly medium-pacers brought for 3 for 89 and David Lucas took 2 for 68, but they were the pick of a poor bunch and Kent must still be kicking themselves for not posting a much bigger lead.