Kent claimed 12 wickets on Day Three of their LV= County Championship match against Lancashire, as they moved one step closer to inflicting a heavy defeat on the Division Two leaders.
Lancashire had to fight hard on the third day of their trip to Canterbury and were indebted to a captain's innings from Steven Croft to keep their promotion bid ticking over, but the visitors found themselves following on after they were bowled out for 259 in their first innings.
The Red Rose skipper made 85 and shared a 91-run partnership with Jordan Clark (44) after Kent had reduced their opponents to 101/5 just before lunch on Day Three. Lancashire found life similarly difficult when they were asked to follow on, closing the third day on 47/2 and still needing two more points to secure promotion, with title-contenders Surrey enjoying a productive day against Derbyshire.
Karl Brown's eighth score of fifty or more in his last 13 Championship innings was the only contribution from the Lancashire top order and two quick wickets for Darren Stevens hampered the early progression of the visitors, who were facing an uphill struggle after Kent had amassed 570/8 declared in their first innings.
Brown and Haseeb Hameed returned to the crease with Lancashire on 25/0 at the start of the third day, but the Red Rose found themselves 46/2 after Stevens removed Hameed and Alviro Petersen in the space of four balls. Hameed (14) had struggled to settle in testing overcast conditions, eventually edging to James Tredwell at second slip attempting to leave a delivery from Stevens, who then had Petersen trapped lbw without scoring in the same over.
It was an important first hour for both sides; if Lancashire could dig in and kick on from a good start then the match would likely be heading for a high-scoring draw, but early wickets meant that it was the home side who took the spoils. Stevens took his season haul to 53 wickets, with these victims coming at an average of less than 20 runs, a reminder of his capabilities even at the age of 39.
Lancashire were in need of a solid contribution and partnership in order take the innings in the right direction and with Ashwell Prince (17) striding to the crease, it looked as though the visitors would be able to settle after a tricky start. The South-African's accumulation of 1,315 runs prior to this fixture is the highest in the country, but Matt Hunn (2-47) was able to collect a prized scalp when he forced Prince to edge behind with the score at 76/3.
Brown continued to battle through this difficult spell, progressing to his eighth half-century of the tournament in 86 deliveries, his eighth boundary taking him to this milestone. His first century for four seasons against Glamorgan and career-best score of 132 was the peak of a purple patch for the Lancashire opener, who was under immense pressure to give another standout performance with the bat.
However, he could only reach 53 before edging to Ben Harmison at third slip, who took a juggling catch off the bowling of Matt Coles (3-75), with Lancashire stumbling to 97/4 in the 35th over of their innings. The in-form wicketkeeper-batsman Alex Davies (4) then fell in quick succession when he lost his middle stump to Coles with an inside-edge, a wicket which left Lancashire in disarray at 101/5 before lunch.
Croft and Clark formed an excellent partnership for the sixth wicket and provided just the approach that Lancashire needed after their top-order batsmen had struggled to survive through testing conditions. The pair added 91 runs either side of lunch as conditions continued to assist the fielding side, although Croft was able to reach his seventh half-century in four-day cricket this summer.
A trademark back-foot cut from Croft took his partnership with Clark beyond fifty and the Lancashire skipper accumulated fifty runs of his own in 108 balls with eight fours shortly after Clark had been caught at second slip by Tredwell off Calum Haggett (2-44) to a delivery which climbed on the all-rounder at the last minute.
Tom Bailey appeared to be in good touch, hitting three fours in his innings of 18 before he was deceived by the flight of Tredwell, who managed to managed to sneak the ball between bat and pad and bowl Bailey with the score at 227/7. Lancashire still needed three more points to put the issue of promotion to bed, but a poor shot from club veteran Glen Chapple (8) left the visitors eight wickets down just after tea.
The first team coach tried to pull Haggett into the leg side, but his top edge found the safe hands of Hunn at fine leg, a needless loss with Croft applying himself incredibly well to the situation. Simon Kerrigan was able to play with a calmer approach, assisting Croft in his determined efforts to take Lancashire to 250.
The visitors secured a second batting bonus point with two wickets in hand, but Kerrigan and Croft were out in quick succession, as Lancashire lost both batsmen with the score on 259. Kerrigan was the first to go, edging Hunn behind to Ryan Davies for two, before Croft was judged lbw to Coles, who collected his third wicket of the innings to remove the Lancs skipper for 85.
Lancashire had been subjected to an abysmal day, one which very much went against the grain of how their season has progressed, but Kent were not content with their progress and they had Brown back in the pavilion after just two balls when Coles had him out lbw for no score.
Hameed (17*) and Petersen were able to forge a sturdy partnership worth 47 runs, but Lancashire suffered a crucial blow in the final over of the day when Petersen (28) was bowled playing across the line to Tredwell with only three balls left in the day, signalling close of play.
The visitors are still trailing Kent by 264 runs and will need to fight incredibly hard to avoid suffering only their second defeat of the campaign. If they can bat on and save the draw tomorrow, then they would secure promotion to the first division.
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