The Rothesay County Championship match between Kent and Derbyshire at Canterbury was finely poised at the end of day two, with the hosts leading by 86.

Kent were 38 for two in their second innings, after Derbyshire were dismissed for 304 first time out. Kent’s Keith Dudgeon took four for 78 and Matt Milnes three for 87, but Luis Reece hit five sixes on his way to 84.

Reece’s last-wicket stand of 56 with England’s Shoaib Bashir, who was unbeaten on 12, cut Kent’s first innings lead to 48.

Rory Haydon then took two for 15 for Derbyshire, including Zak Crawley, who was lbw for 15.

Kent’s lead was 86 when rain stopped play with 23 overs remaining. Haydon now has seven wickets in the match.

Derbyshire began the second day on 24 for no loss, but Dudgeon removed both overnight batters cheaply.

Caleb Jewell was first to go, caught by Tawanda Muyeye at third slip for 12. Harry Came then edged to Sam Northeast at second for 27.

Matthew Montgomery was looking good until Matt Milnes got him lbw for 19 and there was a useful stand of 58 between Wayne Madsen and Andersson that was broken when Dudgeon had the former caught by Muyeye for 35.

It was 132 for four at lunch and Andersson went soon after, possibly unluckily, for 37. He pulled a waist-high full toss from Ekansh Singh and although Joey Evison pulled off a brilliant catch on the boundary, the bowler’s reaction suggested he’d got away with one.

Joey Evison had Brooke Guest lbw for 28, but a six from Reece off the same bowler helped the visitors edge closer to avoiding the follow on target.

Zak Chappell drove Milnes for four to cut the lead to less than 150, but he nudged at the very next ball and was caught behind for 11.

Ben Aitchison made a useful 26 before he spooned Jas Singh to Sam Northeast and Dudgeon switched to the Nackington Road End, getting Haydon lbw for a duck.

However, Reece, who made a career-best 211 here last year, passed fifty with a six off Jas Singh that flew over backward square then twice gave Milnes the same treatment as the last pair eroded Kent’s lead.

Milnes eventually got Reece caught behind, but Derbyshire had wrestled back some of the momentum.

Jewell missed a difficult chance to catch Crawley at cover when he was on 11 and tried to drive Haydon. Crawley crunched the following ball for four, but was lbw to the next.

If that looked like it might be going down leg, there was little doubt about the leg before decision against Ben Dawkins, who was out for 11. Sam Northeast and Tawanda Muyeye were both unbeaten on four when rain forced an early finish.

Derbyshire’s Luis Reece said: “It’s fun when it starts coming off. Credit to Bash (Shoaib Bashir) for hanging around and doing his job, because without him, I can’t do what I do at other end, so, you know, a lot of credit goes to him. The main aim, obviously, was to get a couple of batting points, first and foremost, and then, when we got to 300, it was just trying to see if we could get closer.

“Unfortunately, I put one down the leg side but at least it’s put us in a position where we’re still in this game. When you’re 200 for eight all of a sudden it becomes a bit harder work.

“If we win the next two days, we win the game, that’s the way we’ve got to see it. We’ve got to make sure that we put our best foot forward and when we get a chance to step on the throats with the ball take it, and make sure that whatever chase is in the last innings it becomes as little as possible.”

Kent’s Keith Dudgeon said: “It was nice to find a bit of rhythm again. I feel like I’ve struggled in the last two games to put some spells together, but yeah, it was nice to put a couple of spells consecutively together.

“I enjoyed it, we’ve had some good crowds on both days, and I do feel at home, so long may it continue. I think there’s always something in the wicket. I do think that the nip maybe slowed down a touch, but with the speed of the outfield and the speed of the wicket, I feel like there was always something in it for bat and ball, so yeah, really happy with how we went.

(On his batting). “I’ve tried to put a lot of pride on my wickets and try to score as many runs as I can, regardless of where I bat. Hopefully I can keep contributing with the bats to the boys, and yeah, long may it continue. I do really enjoy the club, and the group of guys, coaching staff, management, even everyone in the office, I do feel very welcome, so that makes it (coming back after last year’s ACL injury) a lot easier.”

Picture supplied by Kent Cricket.