LIVERPOOL

(Day two of four, Kent won toss)

Lancashire 107 (39 overs, A Khan 3-10, RH Joseph 3-37) & Lancashire 257-7 (70 overs, SG Law 79, KR Brown 40, A Khan 3-53); Kent 233 (58 overs, GO Jones 91, JM Kemp 56 not out, OJ Newby 4-79).

Lunch

When, 25 minutes before lunch, Lancashire claimed a ninth wicket and thus a third bowling point, Surrey, down at the Oval, were relegated. The question now is who will join them in Division Two?

On the evidence of a morning that saw Kent add 86 runs to gain a 126-run first-innings lead, and then remove Mark Chilton for two with the third ball of Lancashire's second innings, the home side must be prime candidates.

Though they continued to make regular inroads in taking Kent's remaining five wickets during the first 24 overs, Justin Kemp batted through for an unbeaten 56, his best Championship score of a poor campaign, and a total of four dropped catches on Wednesday (three off Geraint Jones) was the difference for Lancashire between a manageable deficit and a mountain.

With the opening two innings concluded in a total of 97 overs, the number of bowled or leg-before dismissals reached no fewer than 14, such has been the consistent movement into the batsmen through the air and off the pitch. Oliver Newby benefited most for Lancashire with four for 79.

Tea

With the sun out, to the delight of an excellent crowd of over 2000, life proved easier for batsmen in the afternoon, though Lancashire were still three wickets down by the time they took the lead, 25 minutes before a late tea.

And when James Tredwell, the first spinner used, had Francois du Plessis taken for 15 at short leg in his third over, 15 balls before the interval, a lead of 26 over the sandwiches hardly fed high hopes.

Not until Amjad Khan, the clear pick of the nine seamers employed in this match, was belatedly introduced by Rob Key did Kent claim a second wicket. With his second ball, Khan brought a loose forcing shot from Paul Horton who fell for 29 to a fine diving catch behind the stumps.

Stuart Law, batting with an injured finger sustained in giving Geraint Jones the first of his three let-offs on Wednesday, joined Karl Brown to add 40 in 10 overs for the fourth wicket until the 20-year-old Brown ended an impressive second Championship innings with an unworthy, indeterminate swat that saw him fall to Khan for 40 from 73 balls.

Law gave Lancashire a determined lead and 125 runs had flowed from the 27 overs to du Plessis's demise but another failure from the South African, in his last innings before flying home, leaves his final Championship contribution as 398 runs at 23.41 per innings.

Close

Lancashire finished with a lead of 131 but had only three wickets standing and the two crucial dismissals had perhaps already come in the space of nine balls, 40 minutes from the close. After Steven Croft became the second man to fall to off spin in five overs either side of tea, leg-before to Martin van Jaarsveld for two, Luke Sutton steadfastly supported Law as 53 more runs were added.

Khan, with six for 63 so far in the match, produced the ball of the day, however, to bowl Sutton for 18 after 17 overs at the crease and Law, carving at a rising ball from Ryan McLaren next over, was splendidly held by Khan at third man for 79 from 127 balls.

Intelligent hitting from Glen Chapple helped expand the lead by another 39 runs before the close but a new ball will be available after ten overs on the third morning and Lancashire will surely need an advantage in excess of 200 to feel they can complete their fightback.