Kent (446 all out) lead Nottinghamshire (265 all out & 177-5) by four runs in County Championship Division 1 in Canterbury

Kent still have work to do as a defiant rearguard from Joe Clarke and Lyndon James gave Nottinghamshire hope of avoiding defeat in their LV= Insurance County Championship match at Canterbury after they were forced to follow-on.

The visitors finished day three 177-5 in their second innings, which is a deficit of only four runs, after Clarke and James batted through the entire evening session to finish unbeaten on 61 and 38, respectively, at stumps.

Kent’s Michael Hogan, 42, said: “Obviously for us, being in the field for five-and-a-half sessions, that was a heck of a shift from the boys.

“We spoke about it today that, when we sent them back in, there’s going to be partnerships. It’s a good wicket, offering a bit of spin, and there’s some good players out there.

“Joe Clarke did quite well. It’s hard graft but, at the moment, we would rather be in their position than theirs.

“There’s still a lot of work to do tomorrow but we’re in a nice spot.”

Aron Nijjar had earlier claimed career-best figures of 4-67 as the visitors were bowled out for 265 in their first innings.

Hogan and Joey Evison then claimed two wickets apiece after Kent asked Nottinghamshire to bat again but, after reducing the visitors to 78-5, they were frustrated in a wicket-less evening session.

The visitors began day three 219-8, a deficit of 227 runs, but with the weather forecast looking ominous, Brett Hutton and Dane Paterson hung around for 40 potentially crucial minutes against Nijjar and Chahal (3-63), adding just 10 to the overnight score.

Yet having taken 14 overs out of the game, Paterson started to hit out and he skied Nijjar to Jack Leaning, who took his fifth catch of the innings. That last wicket duo managed to bat out a further 10 overs.

Asitha