Rob Yates and Sam Hain punished Kent heavily for a miscalculation with the toss as Warwickshire amassed 367 for three on the opening day of their LV=Insurance County Championship match at Edgbaston.
Yates struck 128 (217 balls) and Hain an unbeaten 124 (235) to enhance their England credentials at the expense of a Kent attack which toiled on a good batting surface after captain Sam Billings chose to field.
That appeared a curious decision on a pitch which looked firm and true and so it proved as Yates and Hain added 166 for the third wicket before Dan Mousley added late impetus with a sparkling unbeaten 72 (78 balls).
Kent’s seam attack, already missing the injured Nathan Gilchrist and Grant Stewart, was further hampered when Matt Quinn limped off just 22 balls into his new-ball spell. The New Zealander returned after lunch but was unable to prevent a bracing reality check for his side after their wining start to the season against Northamptonshire last week.
For Warwickshire, who welcomed England star Chris Woakes back into the team, it was a strong day’s work to follow their impressive domination of Somerset in their rain-affected opening-round draw at Taunton.
Yates in particular enjoyed a satisfying day as he celebrated his return to the top of the order following Dom Sibley’s return to Surrey. Bafflingly dropped to number three in the order last season, he lost form and confidence, but looked back to his best in his specialist position as he unfurled his eighth first-class century. It won’t take too many knocks like this one to re-establish him in the thoughts of England’s selectors.
As the Edgbaston season opened in glorious sunshine but a biting wind, Kent’s bowlers endured a chastening start as Yates and Alex Davies opened aggressively. Davies moved crisply to 23 (34 balls) before playing on to Joey Evison’s third ball.
Conor McKerr, playing the first instalment of a two-match loan from Surrey, soon added the wicket of Will Rhodes, who skied an ugly hoik to mid-on, but that was Kent’s last success for 51 overs. Yates reached his half-century from 69 balls with his tenth four, cut off McKerr, and celebrated with six ladled over long leg off Michael Hogan.
Hain followed to a more circumspect fifty (122 balls) as the third-wicket pair advanced solidly throughout the afternoon. It was a compact, well-managed partnership for the team plan. With Woakes joining a seam-attack also including Olly Hannon-Dalby, Chris Rushworth and Hassan Ali, Warwickshire will fancy their chances of putting Kent under serious pressure if they can amass a total in excess of 479.
Yates completed an accomplished century from 122 balls and it was a surprise when he perished, becoming Joe Denly’s 78th first class victim when he lifted the spinner to mid on.
Any Kent hopes of inducing a clatter were quickly smothered by Mousley’s swaggering start. The 21-year-old lifted Evison and Denly for sixes in his first 20 balls and then sent the new ball, propelled by Quinn, far into the seats at long on.
The implacable Hain – his England chance will surely arrive one day – reached his 16th first class century from 198 balls, Mousley motored to 50 in 55 and the fourth-wicket pair added an unbroken 132 up to the close to complete an excellent day for Warwickshire and leave Kent reflecting upon an early candidate for toss clanger of the season.
Warwickshire batter Rob Yates said:
“It was a good day. We scored at a decent rate as a team and then Dan Mousley came in and played beautifully in the last session. We are set up really nicely to build on that tomorrow morning.
“It was nice for me to get some runs on the board and the tempo I created was quite enjoyable and hopefully was alright to watch. I just tried to let things come naturally with as little thought as possible.
“I’ve done a lot of work over the winter, technically and also mentally. You know that in cricket you are going to be challenged so it is a case of trusting yourself to some out the other side when things don’t go right for you.
“It helps to have really good players to bat with and Sam Hain is Mr Consistent at the moment. It is great to watch and we can’t really ask for more from him.
“Having been put in, we are in a great position. We were going to bowl if we had won the toss and with Woakesy in the side and the rest of our bowling attack we are quite hungry to get stuck in with the ball.”
Kent head coach Matt Walker said:
“It was a case of us not bowling at our very best and them playing very well. It was a tough day, losing Quinny early on and he showed great fight to come back and be able to do something but he was probably bowling at 60 per cent so that was a bit of a frustration.
“But we didn’t get it right, we kknow that. We got hit both sides of the wicket and just couldn’t find our length consistently for any length of time on a pretty good wicket.
“With the toss we felt that bowling first was our best chance to win the game, with a bit in the pitch and a bit of moisture around – equally we knew if we had lost the toss and batted it wouldn’t have been an issue, it is just a good cricket wicket.
“We just weren’t quite good enough but there’ll be a bit of reflection on the day and we’ve got to come back tomorrow positive and better and when our chance comes to bat, take it because we know there are runs to be had. We need to come back stronger tomorrow and just make it hard for them to score.
“We’ll have to see how Quinny’s groin settles down. He recognised there was something not right, it was nothing drastic, not a pop or anything like that, and he was able to get back out there and bowl but not a full capacity so hopefully he recovers well overnight. It doesn’t help because you want everyone firing to their max so that made the first session a little bit difficult for us, having lost Grant and with Gillie on his way back.”