Lancashire’s bid to defeat Kent and record their third successive win in theCounty Championship was frustrated by persistent drizzle at Old Trafford

29-Apr-2010
ScorecardMark Chilton ended a frustrating day for Lancashire unbeaten on 52•Getty ImagesLancashire’s bid to defeat Kent and record their third successive win in theCounty Championship was frustrated by persistent drizzle at Old Trafford.In the 27 overs possible on the third day, the home side took their secondinnings total to 177 for 3 with Ashwell Prince making an unbeaten 71 andMark Chilton 52 not out.That gave them a lead of 284 over Rob Key’s men, who dropped three catches in awicketless morning. However, Friday’s weather forecast is mediocre and a draw is now looking the most likely result, although a lot may yet depend on the high-tech Old Trafforddrainage system.The intervention of the weather was annoying for Red Rose skipper Glen Chapple,who had seen Prince and Chilton dominate the Kent attack during a 100-minutesession in which they scored at four runs an over.Chapple may now be tempted to declare as early as possible on Friday and askKent to score around 300 runs on a wicket which has offered variable bouncesince the first morning.The damp afternoon was in sharp contrast to a lively first session in whichPrince and Chilton added 109 runs. Kent bowled reasonably well but fielded dreadfully with three catches going down, two of them very straightforward. James Hockley spilled a regulation chance at third slip off Chilton in Amjad Khan’s first over of the day and Darren Stevens dropped a low catch off Prince when the South African was on 50, Simon Cook being the unfortunate bowler.Makhaya Ntini then dropped an easy catch at long leg when Chilton top edged ahook off Matt Coles 10 minutes before lunch. In between those errors, Chilton and Prince batted with authority, scoring their runs at a brisk rate, running well between the wickets and setting up what seemed a platform for victory.Prince was especially savage on any loose deliveries from Khan, who went intolunch with figures of one for 67 from his 11 overs. Prince reached his fifty off 69 balls with seven fours and a six, while Chilton reached his first half-century of the season just before the interval off 99 deliveries.If Prince reaches three figures he will be the first Lancashire batsman toscore a century in each innings of a match since John Crawley against Glamorganat Colwyn Bay in 1998.