The precise moment of Surrey's relegation arrived when Lancashire gained a final bowling point, 25 minutes before lunch and 200 miles from the Brit Oval. But the key question remained: who will succumb with Surrey?

Despite the efforts of Stuart Law, their captain, batting with a suspected broken finger after fumbling a sharp slip chance on Wednesday, Lancashire are far from safe. They confirmed yesterday that they will realign the square at Old Trafford to north-south in the autumn, but turning this game round would be remarkable.

Kent's final five wickets fell in 24 overs but Justin Kemp's unbeaten 56, a championship best for a poor season, brought a lead of 126. Both first innings had been completed in the equivalent of a day's play and 14 of the wickets were bowled or leg-before as balls repeatedly cut back off the pitch or through the air.

When Mark Chilton, batting again, went third ball, the deficit had been reduced by two runs. Bright sunshine after lunch, however, relished by an excellent crowd, made batting easier and a series of stands offered resistance without real substance.

Karl Brown, the 20-year-old in his second first-class innings, fought well for 40 before an unworthy swat gave Amjad Khan his wicket.

Khan has been the pick of nine seam bowlers in the match, but it was the off spinners who snared a wicket apiece in six overs either side of tea as Lancashire slipped to 160 for five. Law gained support from Luke Sutton until both fell in nine balls, Law carving to third man for 79 from 127 balls to leave Glen Chapple the task of reviving hope with some intelligent hitting in the final 40 minutes.

Lancashire: First Innings 107

Second Innings

M J Chilton c Jones b Arafat 2

P J Horton c Jones b Khan 29

K R Brown c Jones b Khan 40

*S G Law c Khan b McLaren 79

F du Plessis c Denly b Tredwell 15

S J Croft lbw b Van Jaarsveld 2

L D Sutton b Khan 18

G Chapple not out 28

T C Smith not out 3

Extras (b 2, lb 9, w 10, nb 20) <QM>41

Total (7 wkts, 70 overs) 257

Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-64, 3-104, 4-151, 5-160, 6-214, 7-220.

Bowling: Arafat 9-2-33-1; Joseph 11-1-40-0; Stevens 2-1-6-0; Khan 12-1-53-3; McLaren 15-2-53-1; Tredwell 14-5-34-1; Van Jaarsveld 7-0-27-1.

Kent: First Innings (overnight 147-5)

J M Kemp not out 56

R H Joseph lbw b Newby 6

J L Denly lbw b Chapple 0

R McLaren c Chapple b Croft 12

Yasir Arafat c Horton b Smith 13

A Khan lbw b Croft 0

Extras (lb 3, nb 10) 13

Total (58 overs) 233

Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-30, 3-55, 4-133, 5-146, 6-168, 7-173, 8-207, 9-230.

Bowling: Chapple 19-6-61-3; Newby 19-2-79-4; Smith 12-3-56-1; Croft 8-2-34-2.

Umpires: J H Evans and J W Holder.