County Championship: Sam Hain steadies Warwickshire after Kent collapse

High-class bowling from Oliver Hannon-Dalby put Warwickshire in charge before Kent hit back on a wicket-strewn opening day in the County Championship at Edgbaston.

In a crucial game, with both teams perched precariously above the relegation zone, the hosts prepared a green wicket to expedite a result.

The reigning county champions then won the toss and their seamers, spearheaded by Hannon-Dalby, exploited the conditions to bowl out Kent for 165.

Only Jordan Cox (48) passed 40 as Hannon-Dalby took a Championship best 6-40 and Henry Brookes 3-56.

Warwickshire then struggled in turn before closing on 155-6, having leaned squarely on top run scorer Sam Hain (68 not out).

India paceman Navdeep Saini had an eventful first bowl for Kent, his spell of 10-2-59-3 including some seriously quick away-cutters and 13 no balls.

Hannon-Dalby was magnificent as the leader of a severely depleted seam attack, already missing Liam Norwell, Chris Woakes and Olly Stone after Nathan McAndrew became the latest withdrawal due to illness.

The pressure was firmly on the Yorkshireman to exploit the conditions. And he rose to the challenge, taking the first six Kent wickets, largely in an opening spell of 7-4-15-5.

On what is understood to have been the hottest day ever in England, Warwickshire's decision to field drew an incredulous reaction from their fans on social media - but those fans had not seen the pitch.

Hannon-Dalby struck third ball when Ben Compton nicked to wicketkeeper Michael Burgess and, after Kent advanced to 28-1, added two more wickets in four balls as Daniel Bell-Drummond fell lbw and Joe Denly sliced a loose drive to second slip.

Hannon-Dalby won two more lbws, Jack Leaning for a duck and Zak Crawley after he eked out 17 in 54 minutes then fell, hit on the back leg, offering no shot.

Cox and Sam Billings added 72 in 20 overs before Hannon-Dalby returned to have the former caught behind.

After Billings (33) edged Brookes, Matt Henry plumped for a spot of gung-ho, hitting three fours and three sixes in a merry 34 from 23 balls before slogging Brookes to deep mid-wicket where substitute fielder Kobe Herft took a superb catch.

Saini steered Brookes to second slip and last man Matt Quinn chipped Danny Briggs to mid-off.

Kent hit back hard with three wickets in the first 10 overs as Dom Sibley, Alex Davies and Chris Benjamin edged into the cordon off Matt Milnes, Henry and Saini respectively.

Hain moved fluently to a 64-ball half-century and added 90 in 28 overs with Will Rhodes (32) before Kent struck three times in 17 balls.

Rhodes lifted Milnes to point and Dan Mousley and Michael Burgess edged Saini behind without scoring before Hain and Briggs gritted through the last 13 overs to leave their side narrowly in the ascendancy.

Report supplied by the ECB Reporters' Network.

Warwickshire fast bowler Oliver Hannon-Dalby:

"I'm not going to lie, with 40 degrees forecast, there was a bit of trepidation when we chose to bowl, but it was the right decision.

"There was quite a lot of grass on the pitch and it did quite a lot early on. It was a pretty crazy first hour, not loads of swing but the ball definitely nipped around.

"There have been quite a lot of turgid tracks this year so to get one that nibbles around was quite nice. It was great to see Henry Brookes get the wickets he deserved.

"Craig Miles bowled really well too. There was a spell when Milo was bowling to Sam Billings when he could have got a wicket any ball. Then Sam Hain batted brilliantly."

Kent fast bowler Matt Henry:

"We would have bowled first. We liked what the pitch looked like but it is a good wicket so it was probably the worst toss to lose.

"Credit to Warwickshire. They got it right with the ball and did some really good things up top and from there we were chasing our tails a little bit. Then, more importantly, the way we came out and bowled was exactly what we were after."