IT WAS a morning for milestones at The Oval where Kent continued their backs to the wall battle to stave off championship defeat to Surrey.

Following on and resuming on their overnight second innings score of 254 for four, Kent reached 353 for six by the last day lunch interval with Rob Key unbeaten on a career-best 191.

The visitors lost two wickets in the session, the first of them Matt Dennington, became the 1000th first-class wicket for Surrey’s former England seamer Martin Bicknell.

Bicknell reached his landmark with his 22nd delivery of the fourth and final day to remove all-rounder Dennington for 12 and reduce the visitors to 276 for five.

Dennington, on his championship debut, had been dropped in the previous over by Azhar Mahmood at second slip before Bicknell struck just five deliveries later.

Pushing at a lifting away-swinger, Dennington edged to Jon Batty to take Bicknell’s career tally into four figures in his 272nd first-class game.

Batty then bagged his 10th catch of the match to account for Niall O’Brien (21) and end a sixth wicket stand worth 41 in 19 overs.

Key ploughed on at the other end to reach 150 in 380 minutes and, later in the morning, he clipped Rikki Clarke for four through mid-wicket to reach 175 and beat his previous career-best of 174 not out for an England XI in Hobart two winters ago.

But, with a slender lead of 113, Kent will still need to bat through to tea at the very least to have any chance of preventing a comfortable Surrey win.