Daniel Bell-Drummond hits second century in match as Surrey (673-7dec) drew with Kent (331 & 361-4) in County Championship at The Oval

Daniel Bell-Drummond scored his second hundred of the match as Kent batted out the final day to earn a creditable draw with LV= Insurance County Championship Division 1 leaders Surrey on Wednesday.

The 28-year-old added 107 not out to his first innings score of 102, the first time he has scored two centuries in a first-class match.

Morning rain meant a delayed start but Kent still had plenty of work to do to save the draw, progressing from 121-0 to 361-4 by the time hands were shaken at 5.48pm.

Bell-Drummond batted for a total of almost nine hours in the game, resisting in Kent’s second innings for 195 balls and 284 minutes after coming in when opener Ben Compton was leg-before to Sam Curran in the final day’s second over.

Play should have started at 11.50am, following early morning rain, but just as the players reached the middle another shower meant a further five-minute delay. Amusingly, the Surrey team remained on the field as the umpires ordered the pitch to be covered and liaised with Oval groundstaff, while Kent’s openers Compton and Joe Denly marched off back into their dressing room.

With a minimum of 82 overs scheduled from 11.55am, Denly - who resumed on 63 - was soon flashing Dan Worrall’s pacy outswing away through the gully area for four but Compton, on 47 overnight, had only added a single to his score when Curran skidded one into the left-hander’s pads through an attempted work to leg.

Denly, on 69, was then beaten by a full, in-slanting ball from Worrall that flicked the inside of his front pad before hammering into his back pad.

At 128-2, Kent were under severe pressure. Bell-Drummond, however, was joined by Jack Leaning in a stand of 107 either side of lunch that did much to guide Kent to safety.

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