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

In a crucial game, with both teams perched precariously above the relegation zone, the home side prepared a green wicket to expedite a result. They then won the toss and their seamers exploited the conditions to bowl Kent out for 165. Only Jordan Cox (48, 69 balls) passed 40 as Hannon-Dalby took six for 40 and Henry Brookes three for 56.  

Warwickshire struggled in turn and closed on 155 for six, having leaned squarely on Sam Hain (68 not out, 130 balls). Indian 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 leader of a severely-depleted seam attack (Nathan McAndrew the latest withdrawal after he went down poorly) the pressure was firmly on the Yorkshireman to exploit the conditions. He rose to the challenge with an opening spell of 7-4-15-5. 

On potentially the hottest day ever in England, Warwickshire’s decision to bat drew an incredulous reaction from their fans on social media…but those fans hadn’t seen the pitch.  

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

Hannon-Dalby won two more lbws: Jack Leaning and Zak Crawley who eked 17 from 53 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, 71 balls) edged Brookes, Matt Henry plumped for a spot of gung-ho. He socked three fours and three sixes in a merry 34 (23 balls) before slogging Brookes to deep mid-wicket where sub fielder Kobe Herft took a superb catch. 

Saini steered Brookes to second slip and Matt Quinn joined the list of Kent batsmen whose quixotic aggression contributed to their downfall when he chipped Danny Briggs to mid off.  

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

Hain moved fluently to a 64-ball half-century and added 90 in 28 overs with Will Rhodes (32, 99 balls) before Kent struck three times in 17 balls. Rhodes lifted Milnes to point and Dan Mousley and Michael Burgess edged Saini behind before Hain and Briggs gritted through the last 13 overs to leave their side ascendant, just.

Warwickshire fast bowler Olly Hannon-Dalby said: 

“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 and I thought 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 and hopefully Briggsy and the rest of the tail can hang around with him tomorrow and we can get a good lead. Any sort of a lead would be important.” 

Kent fast bowler Matt Henry said: 

“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. We have got ourselves back in the game. It wasn’t an ideal day by any means but we have got a lot of belief that we can come out tomorrow, have a good session in the morning and then get stuck in with the bat.”