Kent toiled away on Wednesday as Lancashire built a lead of 252 going into the final day of the County Championship Division 1 match.

The opening two days had seen wickets tumble on a regular basis, with the hosts beginning their second innings 125 runs behind Kent’s total of 270 and seemingly right up against it on a used pitch which had proved helpful to both teams’ seam bowlers.

But in total contrast to what had gone previously, just five wickets fell throughout the day as Luke Wells and Josh Bohannon put Lancashire in a strong position, closing on 377-5.

Resuming 2-0, batting instantly looked easier for Wells and fellow opener Keaton Jennings with both Matt Henry and Navdeep Saini lacking the bite they had enjoyed during Lancashire’s first innings for Kent.

The opening pair had built a partnership of 54 off 14 overs and it was something of a surprise when Nathan Gilchrist made the breakthrough, tempting Jennings to edge to stand-in captain Jack Leaning at second slip for 14.

The wicket brought Bohannon to the crease and, with both he and Wells enjoying recent centuries, the stage was set for a partnership that could define the match, should Lancashire somehow prevail.

Wells took the role of aggressor, moving to 50 for the fifth time in the Championship this season from 69 balls including five fours and - so effective was the partnership - Leaning was forced to turn to the part-time bowlers Joe Denly and Daniel Bell-Drummond as his side’s lead began to shorten.

Bohannon had just reached his half-century after lunch when Wells fell agonisingly short of a ton for 98. He edged Saini to a diving Leaning at second slip as the second-wicket partnership ended on 117.

Despite the breakthrough, there was little respite for Kent as Steven Croft joined Bohannon who was reminding everyone why earlier in the season he was being tipped by many to play for England’s Test side this summer.

Lancashire had built a lead of 139 when the 25-year-old brought up his century off 186 balls with 14 fours.

Croft, captaining the side due to Dane Vilas’ injured finger, was happy to play second fiddle to Bohannon and the pair had compiled a partnership of 109 for the third wicket when Henry got a delivery to jag back and bowl Croft for 42.

Rob Jones was next to enter the fray. He and Bohannon looked to up the scoring rate against a beleaguered Kent attack that was becoming increasingly reliant on Bell-Drummond’s accuracy rather than Saini’s raw pace.

Bohannon eventually fell for 134, feathering a delivery from Grant Stewart to wicketkeeper Ollie Robinson by which time the lead was 228 and showing no sign of slowing down with the only respite coming when Leaning trapped Washington Sundar lbw for 10 just before the close.

There was just time for Jones to reach his half-century from 73 balls, the incoming George Lavelle unbeaten on three.

Robinson said: “Lancashire are in the box seat now and they can drive the game however they want to play it - whether that’s taking the draw or pushing for the win.

“We’ll, obviously, try and take wickets in the morning but, ultimately, it’s in Lancashire’s hands as to how the game goes.

“From everything I’ve heard, the pitch has changed a bit from the first couple of days - it’s not swinging as much but it’s taking spin, so I guess it will be a different challenge when it comes to batting, but it’s a pretty good pitch to bat on now and they made it look easy today. Bohannon and Wells played beautifully.

“We have batted to save games quite a lot this season and actually done it quite well and, although obviously we want to win, I think a draw is the most likely outcome.”