Leaders Nottinghamshire suffered their first LV County Championship Division One defeat of the season as Kent won a tense encounter at Trent Bridge by three wickets.
Kent resumed needing 114 with six wickets in hand on the final day of the match and made comfortable progress with stand-in skipper Martin Van Jaarsveld (63) at the crease.
But two wickets in two balls from England seamer Ryan Sidebottom and another from Charlie Shreck had the visitors wobbling 71 short on 173 for seven.
Yet eighth-wicket pair Ryan McLaren - a star with bat and ball in the match - and Yasir Arafat held their nerve to guide Kent home to finish unbeaten with with 37 and 36, respectively.
The result means Notts are seven points ahead of second-placed Lancashire, who romped to a 232-run victory over Durham on Friday.
Elsewhere in Division One, a see-saw match at Taunton petered out into a tame draw after Hampshire had been set 422 to win in a minimum of 82 overs by Somerset.
Somerset captain Justin Langer had declared their second innings on 654 for six as Zander de Bruyn fell two short of a first century for his new club, while Peter Trego was 84 not out.
Leg-spinner Michael Munday broke through with the total on 99 when Hampshire's Jimmy Adams was caught by Marcus Trescothick at slip for 49.
But fellow opener Michael Brown averted any worries as he remained unbeaten on 104, reaching his ton off 231 balls, with 13 fours, while John Crawley proved a solid partner and finished the match on 24 not out.
In Division Two, Essex number 10 Chris Wright hit 71no, only his third first-class half-century, to guide his side to a remarkable two-wicket win over Middlesex on the the final day at Chelmsford.
The match had been evenly poised overnight with the hosts needing 176 with five wickets remaining, but the game looked up as they slipped to 202 for eight, 97 behind.
But Wright took up the challenge, hitting 12 fours and a six in his 105-ball knock, and put on 99 with James Middlebrook (33no) to see Essex home.
Meanwhile Derbyshire's home match with Warwickshire finished as a draw despite a century from Dane Freddie Klokker.
Derbyshire captain Rikki Clarke declared his side's second innings on 417 for six after an unbeaten 103 from Klokker, a wicketkeeper playing as a specialist batsman, to set Warwickshire 378 to win.
The Bears' second innings started nervously as Ian Westwood (seven) fell victim to South African Charl Langeveldt for the second time in the match.
Captain Darren Maddy (23) and England batsman Ian Bell (28) both fell to spinner Nayan Doshi (two for 69) in quick succession to leave them in slight trouble on 59 for three.
But Jonathan Trott made an unbeaten 43 to steady the ship as Warwickshire clawed their way to 160 for four as the match finished in a draw.
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