Kent took the safety first approach against reigning champions Sussex after deciding not to chase an unlikely last day target of 337 and eventually shook hands on the draw after reaching 193 for three at Hove.

Having dismissed the hosts for 237 by noon, Kent were left with a minimum 78 overs of this the final day at an asking rate of 4.3 an over, but the introduction of wrist-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed for a miserly 24 over stint lifted the asking rate impossibly high.

Kent lost three wickets along the way, two of which went to Mushtaq giving him seven in the game.

Joe Denly (24) missed an attempted sweep against Mushtaq to go leg before then, after a second wicket stand worth 93 in 28 overs, James Tredwell went back to Michael Yardy’s second ball after tea to edge to wicketkeeper Matt Prior.

Kent showed some attacking intent by promoting Yasir Arafat to bat at No4, but the ploy backfired when, with his score on seven, he sliced a drive off Mushtaq into the hands of Yardy at backward point and Kent’s ambitions of victory went with him.

The teams settled fro the draw by 5pm by which time van Jaarsveld had reached 82 and Matt Walker 11, with the side 144 short of their target.

Earlier, Kent needed an hour to claim the three wickets they needed to polish off the Sussex second innings, but not before the hosts could add a further 58 runs to their total.

It was winter recruit Azhar Mahmood who tool all three to fall in a burst of three for three from 10 balls down the Hove slope to complete his first five wicket haul for his new club.

Robin Martin-Jenkins (39) was bamboozled by a slower ball and lobbed back a simple return catch, Chris Liddle (0) was snared leg before when playing across the line, last man Mushtaq Ahmed (0) then missed an attempted drive to lose his middle stump.

Mahmood finished with five for 30 and six wickets in the game, double his championship haul of three wickets for the 2007 when he only played three games for former club Surrey.