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 fours and a six having occupied the crease for 528 minutes.

Kent removed both Northants openers before lunch. Emilio Gay prodded Arshdeep to Jack Leaning at second slip for nine before the skipper’s call for Joe Denly’s leg-breaks paid dividends as Ricardo Vasconcelos found Leaning at slip in the final over before lunch.

It was 63-3 early in the afternoon session as Sam Whiteman, having displayed some resistance by crunching Agar for successive off-side boundaries to reach 28, was tempted into a sweep by Denly tempted him to sweep but his top edge went straight to backward square for Qadri to complete the catch.

Denly, who took 2-94 in a marathon 30 overs, might have collected a third wicket when Ben Compton was unable to grasp a sharp chance from Rob Keogh at short leg with the right-hander on 18.

Keogh gradually got on top of Kent’s all-spin attack, taking advantage of some wayward Denly deliveries to crack three fours in an over and sweeping Qadri to the square leg fence to bring up his half-century on the cusp of tea.

There was a scare for Keogh when a ball from Qadri lodged in his back pad and then trickled across to rest against the stumps without dislodging a bail, but the spinner got his man soon afterwards for 57, winning what looked a marginal lbw decision.

That broke the fourth-wicket stand of 80, but Luke Procter progressed to a resolute 50 from 146 balls and, with Saif Zaib going for his shots at the other end, the pair shaved another 51 off the deficit.

Leaning brought himself on to bowl and promptly pinned Procter leg before with his second delivery for 52 and leave Northants 204-5. Murky overhead conditions forced the players from the field just a few overs later.