Kent were again left to rue bad weather as they fell just short of a dramatic victory in the final session against Gloucestershire at Canterbury on Wednesday evening

Having lost 33 overs due to a sodden outfield on the fourth morning, Kent declared with a 141 first innings lead and were left to chase 10 wickets on the final afternoon and ultimately seven after tea.

However some tight bowling from Calum Haggett (3-27) - in for the suspended Matt Coles - and Matt Hunn, who replaced Hugh Bernard in the lineup, got them to a point with nine overs remaining where Kent needed to take two more wickets and to chase down just 17.

However the visitors' tail came to their rescue for the second time in the match with No8 Jack Taylor adding 46 not out from 45 balls to his first innings 52 and No10 David Payne making an unbeaten 20, following his 46 first time around to guide them to 211-8, 62 ahead, and extinguish any hopes of a grandstand finish in the final half-hour.

The match began in equally dramatic fashion on Sunday morning as Mitch Claydon and Darren Stevens produced an incredible spell which left the visitors reeling on 14-4 from 17.2 overs.

Hamish Marshall did however steady the ship with a superb 112, despatching a dozen fours in a 202-ball innings while George Hankins (45), Taylor (52) and Payne (46 not out) guided the visitors from 142-6 to post 337.

Haggett finished with 3-66 - and match figures of 6-93 - while Stevens had 3-68 and Claydon 3-97 with Hunn getting the other.

Kent were in trouble on 6-2 in reply with Daniel Bell-Drummond playing on for a duck from the third ball and Joe Denly going for nought from six balls.

However Tom Latham and Sam Northeast set about adding a record 204 for the third wicket inside 53 overs, the Kiwi eventually departing for 90.

After his recall in place of the injured Sean Dickson, Alex Blake cracked 45 on the second afternoon and shared a stand of 104 with his skipper but after he nicked behind, Northeast followed him back soon after for a new career-best 189.

The captain's 6.5 hour stay ended with Kent on 376-5 on a rain-hit third day which saw only 48 overs bowled, and though Stevens (54) and Haggett (33 not out) did their best, the hosts fell three runs short of a final bonus point and only sixes off the final three balls from Matt Hunn (career-best 32 not out) took them up to 478-8 on the third evening.

Kent claimed 12 points from the game to sit 18 points behind leaders Essex after four games, though they have lost 633 overs to bad weather already this season.