Frustration as victory bid thwarted
Kent’s hopes of winning only the fourth game of their LV=County Championship Division 2 campaign were dashed by a determined title-chasing Lancashire at Canterbury last Friday. Lancashire, resuming on 47-2 in their second innings and still trailing the second-bottom hosts by 264 runs, batted through the final day to finish on 258-4 when play was called off 10 overs early. Kent, batting first, had made 570-8 declared, an innings which included hundreds from Rob Key (113) and captain Sam Northeast (139). The hosts then dismissed Lancashire for 259 to set up the chance of victory. But Northeast was left wondering what might have been as the visitors escaped with a draw. Lancashire captain Steven Croft led the resistance with an unbeaten 72 as he and wicketkeeper Alex Davies (58 not out) guided their team to safety with a 120-run partnership. Northeast said: “We all had high hopes after taking those two wickets late on the third day but we didn’t bowl as well as we could do. “But at the same time, I thought they batted well and it just didn’t go for us. A few chances went in gaps and a couple of lbw decisions could have gone either way. “These things happen and it is frustrating. The boys tried seriously hard during their two innings but the wicket flattened out come the final day. “We might not have got across the line in the end but we can hold our heads up high. “We competed brilliantly against a team doing as well as them for four days and we outplayed them for most of them. That is a good sign for us. “We want to finish the season strongly and this performance is a step in the right direction.”