Warwickshire overcame a superb Kent rearguard action to claim a thrilling LV=Insurance County Championship victory with six overs to spare in the final day gloom at Edgbaston. 

The home side won by an innings and 14 runs when Joey Evison edged Hassan Ali behind to fall heartbreakingly for 99 having taken his side so close to salvaging an unlikely draw   

When the visitors, having followed on 295 behind, declined to 99 for seven in their second innings, an ignominious defeat beckoned. But opener Ben Compton (88, 185 balls) and 21-year-old all-rounder Evison (99, 161) added 100 in 25 overs to hoover up much of the afternoon session. Then, after Compton fell in the first over after over tea, Evison and Surrey loanee Conor McKerr added 74 in 27 overs. 

Kent were within touching distance of a great escape when, with the light fading fast, Olly Hannon-Dalby returned to have McKerr brilliantly caught by Will Rhodes at fourth slip and then Ali sealed the win with a luscious outswinger to the heroic Evison.  

Warwickshire deserved the win, having dominated the  

match, and their vibrant start to the season hints at a potential title challenge to follow their dismal 2022 campaign. For Kent, the final-day fighting spirit offered some consolation but the thrashing came as a major jolt after their opening-round victory over Northamptonshire. They are at least likely to be boosted by the return from injury of seamer Grant Stewart when they face Essex at Canterbury next week. Whether Matt Quinn recovers in time from a groin injury sustained in this match remains to be seen. 

Kent resumed on the final morning 27 for one, needing to bat out the day, but plummeted to 51 for five in the first 12 overs. Warwickshire’s seamers continued where they left off the previous day when they took 11 wickets in 52 overs. 

Compton applied himself assiduously but saw a string of partners perish. Nightwatchman Quinn had his off stump flattened by a Chris Woakes inswinger before four wickets fell to smart work by the slips. 

Rob Yates took two superb low catches to remove Daniel Bell-Drummond and Jack Leaning, Rhodes made no mistake to oust Joe Denly and Jordan Cox, having defied for just over an hour for 29, edged to Sam Hain. When skipper Sam Billings decided too late to leave a ball from Hannon-Dalby and deflected it on to his middle stump, it was 99 for seven.  

Compton and Evison dug in deep, the former enhancing his remarkable first-class batting average of 58, but were parted in the first over after tea when Compton edged Rushworth and Yates took yet another excellent slip catch, this time fast and high and particularly impressive as he saw the ball very late with wicketkeeper Michael Burgess standing up to the stumps. 

That left Kent’s last two wickets with 36 overs to survive, and they came gallantly close to achieving it before the depth and quality of Warwickshire’s refurbished seam attack had the final say. 

Warwickshire first team coach Mark Robinson said: “We said this morning that we had a lot of hard work to do because this is Division One cricket and teams fight hard and give nothing away. The ball got softer and there was a bit of drizzle around and we know Edgbaston pitches get slower and it became really hard work.

“But we stuck at it, beat the bat a hell of a lot but just couldn’t find the edge. You have to give them credit. Compton was very composed and Evison hurt us for a long time and then we get Compton out and McKerr comes in and bats for 100 balls. 

“You start to fear the worst with the light fading but then Rhodesy plucks a great catch off Olly and then we have one of the all-time great wicket celebrations from Hassan. I think that shows how much it means to him and how much he will give to the team and to the Edgbaston crowd.

“It means a lot when you have to keep going as a group and then get the result at the end of a long, tough day. We are only two games into the season but we think we have got a nice little mixture of experience and youth. We set up the game really well on the first day by batting really positively.

“We felt we were good at Taunton without having luck with the weather. There was a danger it was going to thwart us again but we got over the line this time. And welcome back Chris Woakes…in the dirt for the best part of two days trying to bowl teams out! But we have got our bye next week so that will give everybody that extra recovery time and then we have got three big games.”

Kent head coach Matt Walker said: “We definitely didn’t deserve much from this game at all but when people fight hard like the way the guys did and they get you close to the line, and then you fall just short, they are the gut-wrenchers. What is does is give you some positives to take out of the game and the character shown by Compton early on and they Joey Evison with great support from Conor McKerr sends a real message to the group that with concentration and determination and hard work and good decision-making, things can be done.

“It was a good challenge today against one of the best bowling attacks in the country. They showed us how to bowl on that wicket. When you get bowled out cheaply then everybody looks at the batting but we made it too easy for them with the ball as well. We were way off our game and they punished us the way good teams do.

“Matt Quinn’s injury is not too bad. I think he caught it early so we have been able to have a look at it. Great credit to him for going back out there and bowling again, obviously not at full tilt. That’s two weeks in a row we have lost a bowler during the game and obviously that’s not ideal, but that was no excuse here. Playing on Test match wickets is very different to Canterbury, you have to be so disciplined with your areas, just smash a zone all day long just as they did. We leaked both sides of the wicket and our lengths weren’t particularly good and they took full advantage.

“We were outclassed a bit overall but the gutsy performance in the last few hours of the game sends out a good message to the group that we need to step up and show some character as a batting unit.”