Having watched Kent bat for nearly a day and a half to make 374, Lancashire produced a determined response in the long evening session at Blackpool to finish on 120 for one and leave this Rothesay County Championship match fairly evenly poised with two days left to play.

Ben Compton’s 135 was the centrepiece of his side’s 374 but Luke Wells and Keaton Jennings put on 119 to give supporters a faint hope they might bat past the visitors’ score and give their bowlers a chance of forcing their team’s first Championship victory of the season on the final day.

For their part, Kent’s supporters will have been encouraged by the departure of Jennings, who was lbw to Joey Evison for 49 three overs before the close, and by the help Jack Leaning extracted from this slow pitch, especially when bowling outside the two left-handers’ off stumps.

It all suggests that this match between the bottom sides in Division Two could be set for a fascinating conclusion over the next two days. 

The morning began almost perfectly for Lancashire when James Anderson had both Leaning and Evison caught at short midwicket by Josh Bohannon inside his opening two overs.

But having dismissed Leaning for four and Evison for a 12-ball nought, the home side enjoyed no further successes in the first session.

Instead, Compton reached his fourth century of the season –and also his fourth against Lancashire – off 201 balls when he back cut Mitch Stanley to the rope.

By lunch, the Kent skipper was unbeaten on 124 and Harry Finch was 28 not out. The pair had put on 60 for the sixth wicket and the second new ball, which was eleven overs old, was hitting the middle of their bats.

That trend continued for the first 40 minutes of the afternoon session. But just at the point when it was tricky to see where Lancashire’s next wicket might come from, Anderson’s bowlers removed both batsmen, Finch, caught behind off Balderson for 52, and Compton, similarly snaffled by Hurst in the next over when nibbling at a ball from Green, for 135.

The Kent skipper has batted 402 minutes, faced 296 balls and hit 15 fours and a six. Grant Stewart followed five overs later when his skier was caught at mid-off by Bohannon, whose third catch of the day also gave Mitch Stanley his maiden first-class wicket.

Matt Parkinson perished to Wells’ leg spin for 11 but Wes Agar enlivened the play before tea by smashing three big sixes in his 41 before he was caught at long off by Stanley long-off Bailey.

That wicket ended the Kent innings on 374 with the wickets spread among six bowlers. Balderson was the best and most successful with three for 54. Anderson took two for 51 and Green bagged two for 104 from 37 overs.  

Despite frequent appeals and a few near things Wells and Jennings batted with increasing confidence in the 38-over evening session, Wells reaching his fifty off 97 balls with seven fours and a six and finishing unbeaten on 57. Nightwatchman Tom Bailey was nought not out at the close.

Ben Compton, Kent batsman, said: “It’s been a friendly paced wicket but quite slow off the pitch. We saw Lancashire bowl the right lines and lengths today. They were very clear what their plans were and executed them very well.

“It’s just attritional. It’s not a game where there’s going to be something happening all the time and we just have to be really disciplined and try to grind them down, because that’s the way to take wickets on this pitch.

“Credit to Harry Finch because we got a good partnership together after losing a couple of quick wickets. You didn’t feel under huge threat but it was difficult to score quickly.”

“I’m trying very hard and I’m just grateful that it’s paying dividends. If I can give the team a good start and expand as the game goes on, that means we will have a good foundation.

“There is a bit of spin on offer now so tomorrow’s a big day for us. We have to be disciplined and I’m looking forward to an attritional grind.”

Steven Croft, Lancashire’s interim head coach, said: “I think today was a really good day. Yesterday straight after lunch, we just let it slip a little bit. We had to chase and claw the game back a little bit.  But today, we had a really good day. Our patience got rewarded.

“When it came to bat, I thought Keats and Wellesy had a really good opening stand there of 100. There’s nothing more you can ask for, really. We lost one (wicket) at the end, but we’re in a great spot.

“I think it’s one of the wickets you have to be patient with. It seems to have a little bit less bounce than last year. Whether that’s good or not, we’re not too sure. I think to be patient on that wicket is the way to go. Obviously, you’ve got to build a good foundation.

“I thought Mitch Stanley did really well for his first go in first-class cricket. He’s been with us now for 18 months. We’ve seen a lot of him in the second team this year, and he’s done really well.

“He’s been up to the task, and I thought he did really well today and a bit unlucky not to get one or two more. On a pretty docile pitch he was still getting it through is great to see.

“We’re on the field first and foremost tomorrow and (the aim is) to build a good platform. It is a quick scoring ground usually here. The pitch is a little bit on the slow side, but if we do get a good foundation, we can start dictating how we want to play.

“I think we’re in a really good position. We’ve played some good cricket. We want to win every game we play and if we can’t win it, we want to be on the right side of the draw as well, which I think by our own standards we’ve been a little bit short of that at times this year. Hopefully, we can turn the corner.”