Kent’s Australian international Wes Agar claimed the second five wicket haul of his first-class career to restrict Northamptonshire to a modest 237.

It came despite Rob Keogh leading a spirited fightback for the hosts with a fine 97 on day one of this LV= Insurance County Championship match.

Tawanda Muyeye and Daniel Bell-Drummond (48) took the positive route in response, sharing a confident, attacking unbeaten partnership of 93 as Kent closed on 110 for one in 26 overs. The pair peppered the boundary, Muyeye smashing eight fours and a six, finishing 58 off 82 deliveries.

Keogh fell agonisingly short of a second consecutive century against Kent this season but did well to help his side recover after losing three early wickets to catches in the slip cordon. It created a sense of déjà vu for Northamptonshire fans after a number of similar batting collapses this season but Keogh’s half-century partnerships with Sam Whiteman (40) and Saif Zaib (26) started to swing the momentum back their way.

Agar though was finding prodigious swing, having already removed Whiteman and Ricardo Vasconcelos and he finally ended Keogh’s resistance after 147 balls (13 fours), the first of three wickets in 11 ball for the Australian, including a double wicket maiden. Tom Taylor (35) clubbed six boundaries before he became the third victim for Hamidullah Qadri.

Northamptonshire won the toss and elected to bat first on a used in temperatures of 30 degrees. Agar was soon in the wickets column when he removed Vasconcelos without scoring in the fourth over. Left-arm quick Arshdeep Singh picked up Emilio Gay (15) nine balls later before accounting for skipper Luke Procter (7). All three had fallen to slip catches inside the first 11 overs.

The hosts’ fortunes soon started to improve through a fluent stand of 62 between Sam Whiteman (40) and Keogh.

Keogh took an unbeaten 116 off Kent in the opening game of the season and tucked into their bowling once more. He punched Matt Quinn square for four and greeted Qadri’s arrival with a similar shot before punching him through the covers when the spinner dropped short. He also cut powerfully to the ropes as Northamptonshire reached three figures before lunch.

Whiteman meantime drove Agar authoritatively down the ground for four and was particularly strong off his legs, steering Quinn behind square to the ropes. But with the safety of lunch just four balls away, he lost concentration and flashed at one outside of-stump from Agar with Leaning taking an excellent tumbling catch, his third of the morning, Northamptonshire going into the interval four wickets down.

After lunch Keogh found a new partner in Zaib and they put on 65 in 15 overs. Keogh continued to profit from the cut and backfoot punch, advancing to his half-century off 72 balls. When Arshdeep tested him with a well-directed bouncer he was happy to take that on too, hooking it comfortably for four.

Zaib became Qadri’s first wicket when he backed away and was bowled, attempting a cut. The spinner struck again in his next over when Lewis McManus played down the wrong line and popped a catch up to short leg.

Keogh grew increasingly nervous through the nineties. He survived an lbw shout from Agar and offered an edge which dropped short of the slips. But although he reverse swept Qadri for four to move to 97, Agar got his man next over when he was trapped lbw.

Agar’s next over was a double wicket maiden as he bowled both Ben Sanderson and Jack White without scoring.

Taylor traded some lusty blows, pulling Quinn for four and carving Agar to the ropes, before punching two boundaries off Qadri. His bid to gain Northamptonshire a rare batting bonus though ended when he was caught off Qadri.

When Kent batted, Sanderson struck early to beat Ben Compton’s defences and hit the stumps.

Tawanda Muyeye looked assured, powerfully cutting a short ball from Sanderson for four and playing an exquisite cover drive off Taylor to the ropes. His timing was exemplary but he did play a rare false shot when he top edged an attempted hook, the ball falling just in front of the fielder.

He was soon finding the boundary again, punishing consecutive short balls from Taylor, swotting them disdainfully away to the ropes and smashing Keogh high over deep midwicket for six to bring up his half-century off 69 balls.

Bell-Drummond was timing the ball well too, punching White down the ground and carving him square before playing the same bowler through midwicket for four to bring up the fifty partnership with Muyeye off 93 balls.

Northamptonshire all-rounder Rob Keogh who scored 97 said: “It was quite slow. When they went full and straight, it was quite hard to score. They had straight fields, catching midwickets, catching covers. So, it was a bit more of a patience game, relying on any width and trying to cash in that way. We’ll be disappointed with 237. Batting first on a used pitch, you’re trying to get 300 plus and then it’s down to the bowlers to put some pressure on. But we’ve got some work to do tomorrow.

“Wes Agar came back on brilliantly and got the ball reversing. He got it reversing both ways, showed his skills and he ended up with five wickets for not many runs when he picked me up and then it also happened pretty quickly. So, a bit disappointing, but we’ve got to try and get the ball reversing ourselves and try and have a similar sort of fightback.

“All our bowlers can get reverse and they’re all going to have to. It was hot today, we saw Kent give their bowlers short spells and Wes got on a run and chipped in to clean us up at the end. So, we’re going to have to rely on all our bowlers.

[On the transition back from the T20 Vitality Blast] “I haven’t played that much white ball cricket recently. I had a red ball game down in the Twos [Second XI] a couple of weeks ago and got some time in the middle down there. I had a back spasm on Sunday, so pretty much had the week off this week, had had a short hit yesterday, and then a little hit this morning before a fitness test. I’ve actually felt in good nick all year. I got the first game [against Kent at Canterbury] and 70 odd second game. I’ve felt in good nick when I’ve got low scores. So, it’s just reminding myself not to go searching and not to feel like I’m out of touch when I feel good in my movements and my processes. So, it was nice to get some today. Disappointing not to get those extra three runs and get another 100. Because it’s something I pride myself on, scoring hundreds for the club, so it’s disappointing not to get those last three and get the team up to a big score, up to 300.”

Kent bowler Wes Agar, who took 5-63 said: “It was a great day of cricket for us. Making early inroads helped. I thought Arshdeep [Singh] bowled really well with the new ball.

“For our batters to go in tonight, it’s not easy and I thought Tawanda [Muyeye] and Daniel [Bell-Drummond] played a great innings so far. Hopefully they can continue that tomorrow.

“At times with the Kookaburra ball the game goes a bit slower and it gets a bit flatter. For Hami [Qadri] to come in and break those partnerships by bowling spin on a day one wicket, I think that’s a big tick for his game moving forward.

“Luckily enough we got the ball moving a bit in the air, which was nice and I was able to get some wickets. It’s always nice to have a ball in your hand when it is reversing.”