Worcestershire had to settle for a draw with Kent after a dominating performance in Canterbury.

Facing off on the final day of their Vitality County Championship clash, the hosts managed to bat out a draw despite the Pears' best efforts.

The captains shook hands just after five o'clock, at which point Kent were sitting on 146 for four in their second innings, still trailing Worcestershire's humongous 618 for seven declared.

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Read more: Worcestershire fail to secure victory after Kent's marathon innings

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The sides had been expected to draw from the start of the final day's proceedings.

An early breakthrough was needed for the visitors, however, Nathan Gilchrist maintained his stance for almost an hour with a score of 12.

Eventually he was caught by Matthew Waite following an attempt to hook Joe Leach.

Kent's Matt Parkinson was bowled for two by Kashif Ali, ending the innings and leaving the commanding Jack Leaning unbeaten after a nine-hour and 48-minute innings, the second longest in Kent history.

Zak Crawley of Kent was taken out early in the second innings and sent off the field after 15 balls, leaving him with just 67 runs from six county innings this season.

With 55.4 overs remaining and Kent at three for 36, Daniel Bell-Drummond and Harry Finch kept the home team afloat, pushing the score to 104-3.

But the visitors' hopes flared again when Ben Gibbon clean bowled the former, off-stump, for 41.

Joey Evison replaced Bell-Drummond at the crease, taking the punch out of the contest as he batted for nearly an hour, facing 47 balls for an unbeaten eight.

When Rob Jones stepped up to become Worcestershire's ninth bowler of the innings, it was a sign the deadlock may remain unbroken, with the teams shaking hands to draw the contest to a close with potentially 16 overs remaining.

With the backdrop of the passing of 20-year-old bowler Josh Baker last week, Worcestershire head coach Alan Richardson said: "No one quite knew what to expect and certainly the minute’s applause and the moment we spent thinking about Josh was really difficult for the players and the staff.

"I look back at them now and I was really proud of the boys and how we handled that."

On the result, Richardson said: "As a performance I think it was something the boys should be very proud of.

"We put in an incredible shift over four days and in the first innings with the bat we played really well."