SOME 18 wickets fell in an action packed opening day as a rookie Kent side struggled to take on Bangladesh A at sunny St Lawrence.

A tinder-dry Canterbury pitch offered plenty of bounce to the seam bowlers on both sides and made life tricky for an inexperienced county side that included two teenagers and a 20-year-old making their first-class debuts.

It was the tourists, who named four players with Test experience, who took first use of the wicket after winning the toss and, after the early loss of Nafees Iqbal, went for their shots to post an enterprising total of 185 scored at 4.5 an over.

Kent opened the attack with acting skipper Martin Saggers and rookie David Stiff, and though the latter took just one for 41, it was the wily Saggers who exploited the conditions best.

The former England paceman claimed five for 48 in three stints from the Pavilion End including the scalp of Tushar Imran, who scored the most fluent innings of the day of 86 from 90 balls, including 16 fours.

Though Kent fielded eight players with first team experience they responded poorly against a pumped up Bangladesh attack armed with the new ball.

Niall O’Brien lost his leg stump to Shahadat Hossain while James Tredwell fenced to gully off the same bowler without getting off the mark.

Debutant Neil Dexter, a South African-born right-hander with an English passport, got off the mark with a single but then the 20-year-old who plays for Folkestone went back to a shooter to lose leg stump.

Gore Court’s Kevin Jones, an 18-year-old Kent Academy inductee, fell leg before for a first ball duck on his debut as the wickets continued to tumble.

At 15 for four some members voiced concerns that the county might struggle to avoid the follow-on figure of 36, but thankfully the tail wagged to see them through to 123 for eight by the close.

The county’s third debutant Paul Dixey, the 17-year-old Kent League wicketkeeper for St Lawrence and Highland Court, assisted the comeback with a gritty 24 from 66 balls, while Rob Ferley chipped in with 23 as Kent limped into three figures.

It was the experienced Saggers who top-scored however, his fluent 37 from 58 balls putting a gloss onto an otherwise disappointing day for the county.