Kent and Leicestershire had to settle for a share of the points in a rain-hit draw at Leicester which finished on Monday evening.

The loss of a day and half to rain, and a pitch which flattened once the sun finally came out, ultimately proved to be the decisive factors as the Specsavers County Championsip Division 2 match ended in a draw, with both sides taking maximum bonus points to make a total of 16.

A century for in-form Kent all-rounder Darren Stevens – his first against his former county – and half-centuries for Adam Rouse, James Tredwell and Matt Coles enabled Kent skipper Sam Northeast to declare at tea with his side on 462-9 - a lead of 42.

However, Paul Horton, Harry Dearden and Colin Ackermann saw the Foxes through to an early close.

The morning had seen Stevens and Rouse extend their unbeaten overnight sixth-wicket partnership to 152, a record for Kent against Leicestershire.

Kent had begun the day still needing 78 runs to avoid the follow-on but although Rouse did enjoy one moment of good fortune when he edged left-arm fast bowler Dieter Klein just past his leg stump when he was on just 16, it was a rare moment of alarm on a pitch which had flattened under the sunshine of the previous day.

Stevens, who had played with destructive power in charging to his half-century off just 30 balls on the evening of the third day, was more circumspect as he approached three figures.

He did lose Rouse, bowled for 60 by Callum Parkinson but went to his century off 96 balls, having hit 15 fours and a six.

Shortly after doing so, an attempt to hit a full delivery from Tom Wells back over the bowler’s head resulted in a simple catch for Dieter Klein at mid-off.

James Harris went leg before to Mark Cosgrove but Coles and Tredwell compiled a partnership of 89 for the ninth wicket before Northeast declared.

Horton fell to Will Gidman and Dearden slashed a Matt Hunn delivery to gully before the teams shook hands.

No play was possible on the first day and the hosts were 129-2 at the end of another rain-affected day on Sunday which saw just 47.3 overs possible.

South African Ackermann led the way as Leicestershire’s batsmen made solid progress on Sunday morning and a remarkable day’s play saw 484 runs scored and 13 wickets fall as Kent, with Stevens leading the counter attack after Kent were reduced to 144-5 replying to Leicestershire’s first innings score of 420.

Earlier, the Foxes’ tail waged to impressive effect to ensure a maximum bonus point return despite being 278-7.

Ackermann had earlier made a patient 89 but Clint McKay cracked a career-best 66 from just 58 with Wells adding 46 from 38.

When Kent began their reply, Klein quickly pinned Sean Dickson leg before (0) and bowled Joe Denly (10) before a partnership of 57 between Daniel Bell-Drummond and Sam Northeast went some way towards repairing the visitors’ fortunes.

Wells dismissed Bell-Drummond (35) with his first ball and Klein returned to have both Northeast (40) and Gidman (24) caught edging loose drives.

Kent were in serious trouble, but Stevens played as though the score was 400 rather than 150, hitting through the line of the ball with supreme confidence and timing to guide his side away from trouble.

The draw saw saw Kent remain second, three points behind Notts, although Worcestershire closed the gap in third to 10 points after collecting their third win from as many games after a final day capitulation by Derbyshire.