Kent hold championship leaders Yorkshire to a worthy draw at St Lawrence

Kent v Yorkshire LV= County Championship Division 1, Day 4
By Mark Pennell
Kent claimed nine LV=Championship points to Yorkshire“s eight as the host county deservedly drew with the divisional leaders after restricting them to 300 for five on the final day of an intriguing four-day game in Canterbury.
Having been set a mammoth 392 in the 91 overs remaining on Saturday, Yorkshire made a good fist of their pursuit only to run out of steam and stroke- makers in the final hour. The side eventually shook hands on a draw just before 6pm with six scheduled overs remaining.
On a flat pitch and in ideal batting conditions, Yorkshire“s openers Adam Lyth (84) and Joe Sayers (61) suffered few alarms either side of lunch in posting 155 in 49 overs to starve Kent of success.
Lyth appeared to give one tough chance when on 30, a thick outside edge off Darren Stevens hitting the outer edges of Geraint Jones“s gloves when stood up to the stumps, but 54 runs on the left-hander“s attempts to glance a delivery from James Hockley resulted in a leg-side catch for Geraint Jones.
Without addition to the score and in the very next over, his opening partner Joe Sayers followed a turning ball from James Tredwell and steered it gently into the hands of martin van Jaarsveld at first slip to make it 155 for two.
England all-rounder Tim Bresnan survived a king pair when he nudged a single off the third ball he faced from Amjad Khan and was still there at tea with Anthony McGrath and power to add should the Tykes launch a last session bid for victory. The visitors dined with their total on 187 for two, they still need a further 205 at a rate of 6.8 per over.
Bresnan and McGrath both posted half-centuries after the break but all the time the asking rate was creeping up and when three wickets fell in as many James Tredwell overs, their chances evaporated.
McGrath (55) holed out to Joe Denly at wide long-on, Jacques Rudolph (3) drove to the same fielder at long-off then Bresnan (70) went run out after being called for a suicidal single to extra cover Martin van Jaarsveld by his captain Andrew Gale.
At the start, Kent batted on for 17 minutes of the morning session in adding 30 to their overnight score before Rob Key“s declaration, which was sparked by the loss of their eighth wicket, Azhar Mahmood.
The former Pakistan Test all-rounder reached 18 from 24 balls before he missed a wild mow at a full-ball from Ajmal Shahzad and lost his leg stump with Kent“s total on 357 for eight. It left James Tredwell unbeaten on 72 when Key called time on the innings.