Chris Benjamin hit 123 as Kent seized control of their Rothesay County Championship match with Derbyshire at Canterbury on day three.

The hosts posted 335 in their second innings, thanks to a pivotal partnership of 184 between Benjamin and Joey Evison, who hit 88.

In reply Derbyshire were 19 for one at stumps, trailing by 364 after Matt Milnes got Caleb Jewell caught behind of the last ball of the day.

Rory Haydon took five for 81 and has ten for 163 in the match, but the visitors were left to rue letting Kent off the hook, after they took two wickets in the first over and reduced the hosts to 55 for five.

Kent resumed on 38 for two and got off to a staggeringly bad start, when Shoaib Bashir ran out Sam Northeast for four with a direct hit from cover off the second delivery of the day. Tawanda Muyeye called for a problematic single and Northeast didn’t even have time to ground his bat.

At the end of the first over Ben Aitchison had Daniel Bell-Drummond lbw for four and Ekansh Singh had made just five when he drove Haydon to Bashir at point and the England spinner caught him after fumbling his initial grab.

Muyeye and Benjamin put on 67 for the sixth wicket, but the former was on 34 when he was put down by Wayne Madsen after he edged Haydon to first slip and he’d only added two more when played on to the same bowler.

At that point Kent were 122 for six, but Benjamin and Evison nudged them to 132 without further loss at lunch, and, after 10 overs were lost to rain, they transformed the mood around the ground by batting through the entire afternoon session.

Progress was initially slow, but both batters took singles from Bashir to reach 50 and the boundaries began to flow, with Evison hitting Bashir back over his head for six.

It was 248 for six when at tea and Benjamin reached the first century of his Kent career, and only his second first-class ton, when he glanced Matthew Montgomery for two to fine leg.

Evison fell 12 short of three figures when he hoicked Haydon to Zak Chappell at deep backward point and Milnes was then lbw to Aitchison for a golden duck.

Benjamin fell four short of his career best score when he was strangled by Martin Andersson and the innings concluded when Keith Dudgeon holed out to Andersson and was caught by Luis Reece at deep-midwicket.

That left Derbyshire with 11 overs till stumps. It took them till the final ball of the fifth to score a run, and just when it looked like they’d bat through without loss, Milnes got Jewell off the penultimate scheduled ball of the day. Harry Came was unbeaten on 16.

Derbyshire will need to make history to win from here: their previous highest run chase against Kent was when they made 298 for eight at Derby in 2012.

Entry is free tomorrow.

Derbyshire’s Wayne Madsen said: “I’m really proud of the efforts that we’ve done today. I don’t think we got rewarded for how we played our cricket today, the energy levels, the skill level, and I don’t think we quite got rewarded for the way we played.

“And sometimes that happens in this game, (but) I feel that our rewards will come. If we keep putting in performances like we did today, with little reward, we’re going to get the rewards at some point.

“I think obviously we’re going to have to play really well tomorrow and we trust and believe in a winning mindset. That’s what we’ve spoken about all season so far. It hasn’t happened yet, but the message tonight was, come prepared, ready to win the game tomorrow.

“We’re looking at the scoreboard and how the rates have been all the way through this game. It’s a quick scoring field, and we’ve got an opportunity. And that’s the message to the boys. There’s an opportunity to go out and win a game tomorrow.”

Kent’s Chris Benjamin said: “Tawanda batted beautifully this morning. He calmed me and we were under the pump a little bit, but he batted beautifully and was very unlucky, flipping his thigh pad. Then Joe Evison batted beautifully and put the pressure back on the opposition. That was a big partnership to put us in a decent position going into tomorrow.

“The wicket was spicy. It’s been a bit like that throughout the game. I think it’s a great wicket, a little bit in there for the bowlers if you bowl in a good area.

(On his century) “It’s been a long time coming, it feels and a while since my last one. I got a few 90s last year, but I’m very chuffed, all the hard work paying off. It’s nice to get an opportunity and try to cement my spot here. So I’m happy. I think I knew I had a great chance at it (getting the wicket-keepers slot). I batted beautifully last year when I played in the few games before I did my shoulder, so my mindset coming into pre-season was, can I put the runs on the board, keep wicket well, and then make it a difficult decision? So I’m glad it went my way, and hopefully I can keep performing.

“We could have easily had 2-3 there. They bowled beautifully, good pace, still nipping. I think all three results are possible (but) I think we’re in the driving seat. So if we can bowl the way we did this evening, we’ve got a great chance.

(on free entry tomorrow) “That’s brilliant. Hopefully it’s nice and busy, the crowd’s been brilliant the last three days, the sun’s been up and it’s been lovely.”