Hampshire manager Giles White defended the decision to only give Sean Ervine five overs after Kent hung on for a draw at The Ageas Bowl.

Ervine took the big wicket of Darren Stevens (96), who was caught behind attempting to hook towards the end of the afternoon session, during a fiery spell from the all-rounder.

It ended the 144-run fifth-wicket partnership with Daniel Bell-Drummond that had given Kent hope of chasing down the 342 they needed for their first win of the season.

But Ervine (5-1-11-1) was not used after tea as captain Jimmy Adams persisted with Danny Briggs (24-8-62-2). Slow left-armer Briggs had Bell-Drummond (66) and captain Geraint Jones caught at short-leg in successive overs during the afternoon session. His spell also included several overs with the second new ball, when Ervine (5-1-11-1) would have been fresh for another burst.

But White, who confirmed Ervine was not carrying an injury, said: “Danny picked up two wickets and with the rough outside the left-hander’s off stump there was a good reason for him to bowl and Jimmy made that choice, with seamers at the other end. “It’s opinions isn’t it, and there’s no right or wrong, I don't think. Sean came on for a particular job, to bowl short. He set the field accordingly and got his man.

“After that the choice was to bowl length and hit the stumps. “The plan would have been to bowl at off stump to bring lbws, bowleds and caught behinds into play and mix the bowlers around.

“It wasn’t to be, unfortunately. It was a good declaration, it gave both sides an even chance, but we picked up wickets early which changed things. "If Bell-Drummond and Stevens had stayed together a little longer, [342] would have been very much achievable as they needed four an over at that stage with both men scoring freely. “We bowled well enough to get close, but weren’t good enough to finish it off.” Kent's ninth-wicket pair, Calum Haggett and Adam Riley, batted out the last 21 overs, ensuring Hampshire did not get the chance to bowl at last-man Charlie Shreck, who has a first-class batting average of less than five. “We were just trying to pick up a wicket to get to Shrecky, we always felt that one wicket might have brought two,” smiled White, ruefully. “Credit to Kent, the last two batted very well. We knew it was going to be hard work on that wicket, it was always going to be a battle to get them out. “Stevens played well with Bell-Drummond and the key wicket Ervine got before tea gave us a sniff.

“It’s one of those things, hopefully next time we’ll get over the line. Wins are tough to come by but we’ve had weather interruptions in all our games and the table is still close. “It’s bunched up in the middle, Northants have got away a little but outside of that it’s much of a muchness.”

Hampshire are now preparing for the visit of Gloucestershire on Wednesday – their last Championship match before a four-week break while their Friends Life t20 defence gets underway. “Gloucestershire had better of our draw at Bristol so we’ve got to perform and hopefully get the result we need,” added White.