County Championship: Kent fall short in their chase of 315
Last updated on .From the section Counties
| LV= County Championship Division Two, Spitfire Ground, St Lawrence |
| Leicestershire: 386 & 196: McKay 43; Thomas 4-48 |
| Kent: 268 & 273-7: Bell-Drummond 103; Shreck 4-74 |
| Match Drawn |
| Leicestershire 12 pts, Kent 10 pts |
| Match scorecard |
Kent attempted to pull off a remarkable run-chase on the final day against Leicestershire but fell short as the Championship game ended in a draw.
After Leicestershire lost their final two wickets to post 196, it left the hosts with a target of 315 in 71 overs.
Daniel Bell-Drummond led the way with 103 as he and Darren Stevens (34) reduced the target to 66 off the final seven overs with six wickets in hand.
But both fell in consecutive overs and Kent ended the chase on 273-7.
Bell-Drummond batted calmly on his way to his fifth first-class century, from 186 balls, while Stevens was more aggressive at the other end.
However, after the pair had set up an intriguing final few overs with a partnership of 48 off 42 balls, Bell-Drummond sliced the ball to deep third man off Clint McKay and Stevens was out six balls later when he edged Charlie Shreck (4-75) behind to wicketkeeper Lewis Hill.
Shreck then removed Matt Coles to leave Kent seven down with 3.5 overs remaining and give Leicestershire a small chance of victory.
But Sam Billings and Mitchell Claydon batted through to the end without any further alarms.
The result means Leicestershire have now gone 35 County Championship games without a victory - a run which stretches back to September 2012.
However, Kent sit bottom of the early Division Two table with two defeats and a draw.
Leicestershire captain Mark Cosgrove:
"We had a chance to win the game on a decent pitch for cricket and, at 40-2 with their captain out, we felt in control but credit Kent because they batted brilliantly to get themselves out of a hole and give themselves an outside chance.
"We'd set the chase up and Kent went for it almost all the way and put a scare through us.
"They played well, but I felt we played excellently throughout. I felt we controlled at least six sessions and played to 95% of the standard that I want to see from the guys. If we can build on that, then our win will be just around the corner."
Kent batsman Daniel Bell Drummond:
"We haven't gone too well as a team to date - our cricket has been a bit sporadic in all three games, so it was good to stop the rot here with a draw and great for me to get to three figures for the first time this season.
"It was a good run chase in the end, we very nearly got across the line, and we came off feeling we'd played in a good game of cricket.
"Yes, we need to start winning games, but this was a performance we can work from and push on from."
