Somerset v Kent day three

Rain or a major batting miracle will be required to stave off defeat after Kent capitulated on a dismal Friday in Taunton by losing six wickets either side of the tea interval.

With one day remaining the visitors have stumbled to 163-6 in their unlikely quest of scoring 463 for victory, meaning they need another 300 to win with only four wickets intact.

Makeshift opener James Tredwell (4) was first to go when, in trying to withdraw the bat from a Steffan Jones lifter he allowed the ball to run off the bat blade and through to the keeper.

Some 42 runs on Matt Walker (22) was pinned leg before by Ben Phillips then, just before the tea break, Joe Denly (38) was caught on the crease by a Jones off-cutter that plucked out his off-stump to make it 74-3.

Kent’s gloom deepened after the lunch break when Justin Kemp (16) worked across the line to an Ian Blackwell arm-ball to go leg before then, three overs later, Martin van Jaarsveld (39) gloved an attempted hook against Alfonso Thomas to give Craig Kieswetter an overhead catch.

Only 25 runs on Yasir Arafat (9) chased a wide one from Charl Willoughby to snick a catch to substitute fielder Neil Edwards diving away, two-handed, to his left to make it 145-6.

A brace of short breaks for rain took the game well beyond the scheduled 6pm finish time and though to 6.37pm when play finally ended.

Kent's prospects of forcing a positive result had all but evaporated when the hosts batted on throughout the morning session to reach 243-8 - an overall lead of 462 runs before declaring at lunch.

To make matters worse, Kent skipper and opening batsman Rob Key left for his home in Whitstable after breakfast at the team hotel this morning to be with his wife, Fleur, at the birth of their second child, a baby boy.

In his absence vice-skipper Martin van Jaarsveld led the visitors into the field to take three wickets in the first session.

Kieswetter (7) in trying to shoulder arms to a Ryan McLaren delivery only succeeded in dragging the ball onto his stumps.

McLaren then enjoyed further success when Justin Langer, on 88, drove hard at a leg-cutter only to edge through to Geraint Jones to make it 166-7.

Martin Saggers then got in on the act by bowling Jones (16) with a full-length in-swinger.

But former Kent player Phillips continued to churn out the runs with a 71-ball half-century, his first for Somerset, and by lunch he had reached an unbeaten 53 in taking his side's lead in the match beyond 450.

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