knows 621 (Bell-Drummond 300*, Russell 6-175). Northamptonshire 237 (Keogh 97, Agar 5-63) and 369 (White 59, Keogh 57, Procter 52, Denly 4-164, Qadri 3-51) by an innings and 15 runs
Kent’s spinners finally overcame a late bloom of the Northamptonshire tail to complete an innings win at Wantage Road and climb to eighth in the LV=Insurance County Championship Division One table.
The Northamptonshire pair both recorded the best performances in first-class cricket, with Sanderson hitting 46 for White, batting at number 10 and hitting a first half century off 68 balls.
He was last man out for 59 to seal Kent’s first Championship win since the opening round of the campaign when they beat the same opponents by seven wickets at Canterbury.
As they had done for most of the previous afternoon, Kent initially kept confidence with an all-spin attack – which paid off after just 10 balls as Denly let Saif grab Zaib at short leg without adding to his overnight 43.
Tom Taylor showed attack intent by clubbing both Denly and Jack Leaning to the leg-side boundary and Lewis McManus tried to follow suit as he latched on to a long jump from Qadri, but he picked off the square-legged outfielder.
Taylor found an unexpected ally in Sanderson, who fought with freedom and pushed a series of boundaries in their vibrant partnership of 38, prompting Kent to take the new ball and entrust it to their seamstresses.
It made little difference to Sanderson, who thumped Arshdeep Singh twice to the deck gate, but Wes Agar duly provided the breakthrough – albeit in an uncharacteristic way, deflecting Sanderson’s drive on the stumps to not allow Taylor at the end of the – rush out.
However, the eighth wicket partnership was surpassed by the ninth, with White hitting Denly over the head four times to reveal a rarely seen series of shots, including the reverse sweep, to lift Northamptonshire above 300.
Sanderson stroked Denly for a legside pair to bring forward the 50 partnership – and the highest score of his 15-year county career – but he missed the chance of a first half-century, taking a swipe at Qadri and slid after him.
However, White made no such mistake, sending the leg spinner cleanly over the top for a boundary to reach his personal landmark before Denly finally had him behind to seal Kent’s success.