Kent (95 all out & 259-4) move off the bottom of County Championship Division 1 with draw against Hampshire (373 all out)

Kent moved off the foot of the County Championship Division 1 table as they salvaged a draw against Hampshire at Canterbury on Sunday.

Needing to bat out the final day, they did so with relative ease. Kent had reached 259-4 in their second innings by the close, largely thanks to Jack Leaning top scoring after openers Zak Crawley and Ben Compton had also contributed half-centuries.

Compton said: “We’re, obviously, very chuffed. Hampshire are a very strong side.

“Given our position in the first innings, I think we’ll be happy to take that draw, for sure.

“Credit to Jack, Coxy [Jordan Cox] and Zak for the way they played today.”

Indeed, Compton hit the first runs of the day off Kyle Abbott (0-21) with a cover drive for two.

The first hour wasn’t without its scares for Kent, though both openers remained. A clip for two through the legside off spinner Liam Dawson (2-31) saw Crawley to his half-century in the 43rd over before Compton followed suit in the next over with a boundary through the covers.

But the visiting breakthrough came in the 45th over when Crawley (56) was stumped by wicketkeeper Ben Brown off Dawson while Tawanda Muyeye was out in the same over. He was incredibly caught by Fletcha Middleton, fielding at silly point.

With the away team’s tails now up, Compton was adjudged lbw off the bowling of Keith Barker (2-60) for 54, his fourth score of 50 or more already of the summer, to leave Kent 126-3. Compton’s knock also saw him move beyond 2,000 club runs since his arrival in 2021.

That brought Kent skipper Sam Billings to the crease and he appeared intent to counter-attack, despite his recent poor form, striking three successive boundaries off Dawson in the 49th over.

He was unbeaten on 13 at lunch alongside