Daniel Bell-Drummond scores 300 not out before Joe Denly takes two wickets as Kent (621) lead Northamptonshire (237 & 214-5) by 170 runs in County Championship

Kent require five more wickets to complete victory at Northamptonshire after a record-breaking day at Wantage Road on Tuesday.

Daniel Bell-Drummond finished 300 not out - the fourth-highest individual score in Kent history - after almost nine hours at the crease in the LV= Insurance County Championship Division 1.

Kent were bowled out for 621 in the morning session and then reduced Northants to 214-5 in their second innings before bad light curtailed the day’s play with the home side still 170 runs in arrears.

Resuming on 271 overnight, Bell-Drummond survived a strong lbw appeal by Ben Sanderson in the second over of the day and made cautious progress while his partners threw the bat at the other end.

A delicate late cut for two off leg-spinner Alex Russell propelled him beyond John Freeman’s 286 for Essex more than a century earlier - the previous highest score registered by an opposition player at Wantage Road.

However, wickets began to tumble to Russell (6-175) with Joey Evison lured down the track and stumped for 27 before Hamid Qadri and Wes Agar also perished in pursuit of quick runs.

When Jack White trapped Matt Quinn leg before first ball Kent were 604-9 with Bell-Drummond, on 293, suddenly in danger of ending up marooned with a personal landmark tantalisingly close as last man Arshdeep Singh arrived at the crease.

The India international calmly swung his first delivery over mid-on for two before smashing a couple of boundaries as Bell-Drummond inched closer to 300 - eventually pulling Russell for a single and punching the air in celebration.

Having slammed the next ball into the hands of deep mid wicket, Arshdeep went for 10 and Kent were 384 runs ahead. Bell-Drummond finished 300 not out from 439 balls with 26