Kent remain anchored to the foot of Vitality County Championship Division 1 after an innings and 83 runs thrashing by Lancashire at Canterbury.
Charlie Stobo hit his highest first-class score of 64, but the hosts were all out for 222 after 30.2 overs on day four.
It was an outcome that had looked almost inevitable ever since Kent lost a cluster of wickets midway through day one. The hosts were a shadow of the side who won convincingly at Old Trafford earlier this season, with six of the players who pulled off what remains their only red-ball win of the season injured or unavailable.
“We were just second-best in everything, really,” Kent skipper Daniel Bell-Drummond said.
“It’s a shame, it’s been happening before now. I don’t really have many words to describe it, but starting from day one, the ground staff did a good job with the wicket, there was a bit more in it for the seamers. It did a bit on day one but we probably shouldn’t have been bowled out for 240.
“With the ball again we have a few injuries and I don’t want to keep going on about [it] but it is a fact. I genuinely can’t fault the bowlers’ effort but it’s not good enough [in] this division to be honest and the scoreboard shows this.
“We’ve got no Joe Denly, no Jack Leaning and obviously Zak (Crawley) is not playing. If you take that out of any team it’s going to be different.”
Kent resumed on 143-6 and with a deficit of 162 not many observers were expecting them to take the game deep into the final day.
Beyers Swanepoel, batting with Tawanda Muyeye as his runner, was the first man to fall, cutting Tom Bailey to Jack Blatherwick for 26 in the fourth over of the morning, but Stobo and Matt Parkinson responded with an obdurate stand that took out 18.3 overs.
The partnership broke when Parkinson tried an ill-advised pull shot against Nathan Lyon and although that was spilled by Bailey at backward square leg, he was out to the next ball he faced.
Stobo brought up his second first-class 50 in the next over when he drove Luke Wells for four, but after taking a single Parkinson was left with the strike and Wells pinned him lbw for seven.
Wells then had George Garrett caught by Keaton Jennings at first slip for five and the victory was sealed when Will Williams used the new ball to send Stobo’s off-stump cartwheeling.
On Stobo Bell-Drummond added: “He’s been brilliant, he was training with us for three or four weeks until he made his debut in the T20s and his attitude’s really stood out.
“He’s a very good cricketer as well, I don’t think people knew he could bat as well as he has so it’s great for us to have a good all-rounder going forwards and not just us on the pitch. He’s brought a lot of expertise and help.
“It’s always an honour [to be captain]. I’ll keep my head up. We’ll keep going with what we have and I’ve got to make sure I stand up as well, score my runs and help the team keep moving forward and get some positive results.
“It’s never easy, Jack’s (Leaning) had it before me and Sam’s (Billings) had it before me when injuries start to pick up. We have, I shouldn’t say punched above our weight in Division 1, but when you compare us to some of the other teams with countless resources it is different.
“That’s no excuse but we’ve been here before and it’s about fighting and being better as player. We’ll have to change a few things, which we will do, but it won’t be for the lack of trying.”
Kent return to County Championship action at Hampshire on Sunday.
