After there was no play on day three, the final day of the Rothesay County Championship Division two match between Kent and Durham at Beckenham had a very different complexion to what might have been.

Starting the day on 173 for 5 with Daniel Bedingham 72 not out and Ben Stokes unbeaten on eight, Durham were 350 behind and would have been under pressure to survive.

The day lost meant that Kent needed to take fifteen wickets in the day, which would have been a big ask in two days on a flat track at Beckenham, so it looked unlikely that they could win.

For Durham, it meant that they had no chance to pass Kent’s total and score enough to exert pressure so it appeared that the day would be all about bonus points and Stokes getting some time in the middle ahead of a summer of test cricket.

Hopes for Kent were lifted when Matt Milnes had Bedingham caught at second slip by Muyeye having added just two runs to his overnight score. Stokes then survived a tough chance when he edged the luckless James Taylor to gully but Keith Dudgeon was unable to hold on, diving to his left. Two big Taylor shouts for LBW were turned down before Stokes and Kasey Aldridge added 70 for the seventh wicket.

Finally, Taylor found that he did have a friend when Aldridge edged to second slip and Muyeye took a good low catch to dismiss him for 36. Taylor followed up by taking the prize wicket of Stokes for 45, before Ekansh Singh had Matthew Potts top edging and caught by wicket keeper Chris Benjamin for a bright and breezy 23. At lunch, Durham were 322 for 9.

Ben Raine and Callum Parkinson continued into the afternoon session, untroubled by the new ball, and passed the 350 mark before Raine completed his half century. The rain started to fall just and one ball after the follow on was saved, the umpires took the teams off for an early tea with the score 374 for 9.

When they came back after tea, Muyeye and Matt Parkinson bowled in tandem to speed up the over rate, then Dudgeon bowled an over of spin for Parkinson to change ends and Zak Crawley took over at the other end. Ben Dawkins then had a twirl and Raine completed his century. Surprisingly, with fourteen needed off eleven balls for the fourth batting point, the last pair didn’t go for it and were 437 for 9 at the 110 over bonus cut-off stage, before Durham’s Parkinson recorded his half century.

Finally, Kent’s Parkinson bowled Raine round his legs for 106, the first wicket in 61 overs for either of the twins, and Durham were bowled out for 446 with their Parkinson unbeaten on 54, as the last wicket put on 158.

Bedingham and Graham Clark took the new ball and the latter had Dawkins caught behind by Raine for a duck. By the time that Sam Northeast had got out to the middle, it was 16:50 which is the time at which the teams can shake hands on a draw with Kent finishing on one for one. 

Kent’s Daniel Bell-Drummond said: “We just approach every game trying to win it. Of course, Durham are doing very well, but coming off two wins, we were hoping to try and get another win here this game, but for different reasons, we weren’t able to force that through.

“They played quite well today as well with the bat, batted us out of the game, but it was a good draw and both teams got points, so, there’s a lot of positives to take.

“The guys really worked hard with the ball. James Taylor’s been excellent on his lone spell with us and Matt Milnes coming back was brilliant too. Ekansh Singh picked up some crucial wickets as well and Matt Parkinson did some hard yards into the wind up the hill, so it was a pretty complete performance.

“We couldn’t get the last wicket, unfortunately and as the day started to run on, we knew there was only one result possible. The last three games have been really good. Yeah, I think we’ve got some quality in the squad and it’s just about getting the confidence up and starting to win games of cricket.”

Durham’s Ryan Campbell said: “It was pretty frustrating. You know, we arrived here and obviously it looked a really good batting wicket, and it turned out to be. I guess what’s disappointing for us is we made some mistakes in the field, which cost us.

“We’ve done that a couple of times this year, and for us to be the best team in this competition, we have to take our chances. I think our bowlers are working manfully and getting us the opportunities.

“Overall, we walk away with a pretty good draw. Obviously, day three was, you know, frustrating for everyone, but I don’t know about that. Mother cricket might have been messing with us, because that happened at our place on day three as well when we were in a pretty good position.

“You know, some of those things when you’re playing out grounds, unfortunately, are out of your control. So I actually feel terrible for the ground staff who, you know, let’s be honest, they work so hard to produce wickets for us to play cricket on. For water to get under the covers was pretty disappointing, but yeah, hopefully we live and learn.

“The facts are we got relegated by one point. And one of the work-ons for us this year is that every single point counts. And we’re going to try and get as many as we can when, you know, when if the wickets available to us, over rates is something where, you know, we’re going to make sure we don’t lose a point there.

“And, you know, as a coach, you know, you start to bang on about things and you talk about the small margins and stuff. Well, guess what? Last year, the smallest of margins cost us a place in the first division. So, you know, our players are very aware of every single point counts for us.”