Gloucestershire 229 and 61 for 2 (Milnes 2-6) trail Kent 353 (Compton 126, Bell-Drummond 55) by 63 runs

Knowing a win would guarantee promotion, Kent resumed on 71 for 1, but Langridge got Sam Northeast with the very first ball of the day via a leading edge that went to gully and then got Tawanda Muyeye lbw for 11.

Che Simmons was struggling with no-balls however, and one of them robbed him of a wicket when Compton nicked him behind. Kent were luckier still when Bell-Drummond slashed at R Sai Kishore and Ollie Price dropped him at second slip, leaving the hosts on 183 for 3 at lunch.

Sai Kishore looked menacing and got Bell-Drummond when he tried to whip him through midwicket, thanks to an outstanding catch by Joe Phillips.

Chris Benjamin drove Matt Taylor to put Kent in the lead but fell soon afterwards, when Sai Kishore got him with one that turned sharply and hit middle.

Compton, who hadn’t passed double figures in his last six innings, vindicated Kent’s faith in him by clinching his century when he clipped Langridge for four, but he then started to run out of partners. Daaryoush Ahmed ended Ekansh Singh’s lively innings for 31 when stand-in keeper Miles Hammond took a brilliant diving catch and Milnes made just 5 when he edged Daaryoush to the sub, Ed Middleton, at second.

Three balls from the scheduled tea interval Taylor had Compton caught behind, but the lead was already 97. Matt Quinn made 12 before Simmons got him with the first ball of his spell, caught at cover by Tom Boorman. Simmons then wrapped up the innings when he had Khaled Ahmed lbw for a duck.

That left the visitors with 22 overs to face and Milnes got Joe Phillips caught by Muyeye off the very first ball of Gloucestershire’s second innings.

He then sent Price’s middle stump cartwheeling for 9, but Boorman and Hammond prevented further damage, ending the day on 11 and 33 respectively – Hammond looking significantly more comfortable than his partner.