Kent go top as rain extends the season of stalemate

Kent 379 and 238 for 3 ( Latham 74, Northeast 70*, Denly 64) drew with Derbyshire 574 for 9 dec (Madsen 163, Thakor 123, Hughes 83, Rutherford 65)
Scorecard

A lifeless pitch and two injury-hit bowling attacks provided all the ingredients for a high-scoring draw in Canterbury where promotion-chasing Kent drew with a Derbyshire side still fighting to open their win account in the Specsavers County Championship second tier.

Derbyshire banked 12 points for the draw, while Kent claimed 10 to move above Essex to the top of the Division 2 table ahead of their four-day trip to Chelmsford starting on Sunday.

Kent skipper Sam Northeast hit 191 and an unbeaten 76 on a surface he believed was too placid for four-day cricket.

"Yes we've gone top of Division 2 but who knows if this was a good draw or not," he said. "I'm a little bit disappointed if I'm honest. I felt we should have posted a bigger score to help set the game up, but it was a tough pitch to bowl on and I'm hoping that for our remaining games here we'll produced a surface with a little bit more pace and carry in it."

After Derbyshire's mammoth first innings total of 574 for nine declared had helped the visitors to secure a 195-run first innings lead, Kent set out their stall to bat out the final three-and-a-half sessions of the match for their sixth draw of the summer.

That they readily achieved the stalemate was mainly due to dogged half-centuries from Tom Latham and Joe Denly and sprightlier 47-ball 50 by Northeast, yet it was tame fare for the handful of purists who remained in the drizzle to witness the umpires' inspection and abandonment at 4pm.

By then Kent had wiped out the Derbyshire lead and, at 238 for three, had edged 74 ahead on a day when Derbyshire had hoped to dismiss Kent cheaply in order to secure their first four-day win in 2016.

They were hampered greatly by the loss of rookie pace bowler Will Davis through injury. The 21-year-old pulled up with a sidestrain after trying to stop the ball in his follow through and was unable to bowl throughout Kent's second innings. He could be sidelined for several weeks.

John Sadler, Derbyshire's coach, said: "Will was our most threatening bowler on day one, having also bowled magnificently last week against Worcestershire. For such a young lad who has not played that much cricket he's a really exciting prospect, so he's one we really have to look after.

"He's being assessed by the physio right now, but the early signs are that he's going to have a spell off, that's a real shame for him. But he's young and his body isn't perhaps totally ready for fast bowling yet. It's a shame, but we think very highly of him and hope to welcome him back soon."

Sadler also paid tribute to Wayne Madsen, who scored his 22nd century for Derbyshire during the four-day draw. "Wayne is a magnificent player in all formats and I'm wondering what else he has to do to prove he's good enough to get noticed by England and talked about in terms of international cricket," said Sadler.

"You could plonk him into the middle of a Test or an ODI anywhere in the world and he would succeed - he's that good a player in my opinion. He's a great lad with a superb attitude and I look forward to him getting an opportunity to step up."

Derbyshire began their task well enough when Ben Cotton removed Sean Dickson for 22, barely 20 minutes into the final day. Dickson received a belting leg-cutter that lifted and left him as he played in defence. The ball feathered the edge and flew to wicketkeeper Tom Poynton to make it 39 for one - it proved to be the only delivery of the day that misbehaved.

Second-wicket partners Latham and Denly combined to add 103 either side of lunch with New Zealand Test opener Latham scoring a 115-ball 50 with five fours. It was his first half-century in all forms of cricket since early May.

Three overs into the mid-session and with his score on 74, the Kiwi left-hander lapped leg-side against Wayne Madsen only to pick out Rob Hemmings, the 12th man substituting for Davis, who took a simple catch at square leg.

Denly soldiered on to go past 50 for the third time this summer. His watchful half-century coming from 135 balls and with five boundaries, then Northeast pulled a Ben Slater full-toss for four to wipe out the deficit, one of six boundaries in his eye-catching knock.

To their credit, Derbyshire tried eight bowlers and set some enterprising fields in a bid to force an error - including a short spell of Tony Palladino leg-theory bowled around the wicket to a 7/2 split field - but Kent were not to be tempted into an indiscretion.

With drizzle in the air, Nick Broom enjoyed yorking Denly for 64 for his sixth first-class wicket to break a third-wicket stand worth 93, but rain soon forced the players in for an early tea. The rain and wind strengthened thereafter forcing the abandonment.