Injury-plagued Kent’s winless County Championship Division 2 run continued for an eighth match as they lost by five wickets to Glamorgan in Cardiff on Friday.
The visitors remain bottom of the league, with their last red-ball victory coming in April, while Glamorgan move to second, ahead of their game against promotion rivals Derbyshire next week.
To make matters worse for Kent, skipper Daniel Bell-Drummond also hobbled off to join team-mate Joe Denly on the sidelines and the visitors with three substitute fielders (Will Harby, George Garrett and Michael Cohen) playing at one stage on day four.
Stand-in home captain Kiran Carlson eliminated any concerns of defeat from 25-2 with an unnerved 89 not out, negating the endless spell by Matt Parkinson, who claimed 4-82.
Kent head coach Adam Hollioake said: “Probably where we lost it was our middle-order in the first innings (losing six wickets for seven), that was pivotal and, even on Thursday, we had some good partnerships but no-one went on and got three figures.
“So, that’s the area that cost us.
“I’m pretty happy with the ball. The boys toiled well and they’re showing good spirit, given all the injuries we’ve had.
“Things are bad when I’ve got the whites on (as a reserve substitute fielder).
“It’s our job as coaching staff to problem solve but you can’t attribute the injuries to anything from our pre-season. They’re freak injuries.
“There’s no-one in this competition we’re intimidated by.
“Our biggest opponent is ourselves and we’re still trying to work out our template for success.”
There would have been nerves in both dressing rooms after Kent dominated day three, albeit to only give themselves half-a-chance. Glamorgan had a full day to find 164 runs with eight wickets in hand amid sunny conditions with a Kookaburra ball that would age.
Glamorgan’s openers faltering on the previous night under dim light and a brutal spell from Wes Agar (1-40) left the captain and nightwatchman James Harris to resume their innings.
The importance of a drop at slip from Bell-Drummond, with Carlson reverse-sweeping on nine, proved a turning point.
Harris wasn’t as fortunate with his edge to slip to bring Billy Root to the crease.
The left-hander, playing in his first game this season, showed innovation against the vast turn off Parkinson’s leg-spin – including getting off the mark first ball with a reverse-sweep for a single.
While brother Joe was passing Jacques Kallis and Rahul Dravid in Test folklore at Old Trafford, 32-year-old Root was playing an important role in taking Glamorgan to potential promotion with 30 from 31 balls in a 68-run partnership; a potentially critical innings for his Glamorgan future.
Carlson took a leaf out of Root’s book as the certainty of victory increased, reversing and sweeping to go with his typically elegant open-faced guides and back-foot punches to accumulate with ease.
Root’s dismissal brought about another potential twist as 81 runs were still needed when Colin Ingram headed out.
As Ingram does, Glamorgan’s leading run-scorer demonstrated his status with a fearless attack onto the bowlers to set up just 20 runs needed after lunch thanks to a second half-century stand of the session.
The South African was unable to see home the win with his captain after being dismissed from the first delivery of the afternoon, by which time wicketkeeper Harry Finch appeared in charge of things on the field for Kent with Bell-Drummond and Denly absent.
But 21-year-old Ben Kellaway, batting at No.7, left no concerns as the Welsh county got to victory.
Kent face Division 2 frontrunners Leicestershire in Canterbury from Tuesday.
