Kent reduced Northamptonshire to 89-7 on a rain-curtailed first day of their LV= Insurance County Championship Division 1 season at Canterbury on Thursday.

Grant Stewart took 3-6 and 41-year-old Michael Hogan 2-36, as the hosts exploited damp and dark conditions to leave the visitors deep in the mire at the end of a truncated evening session.

“It was a bit of a strange start to the season I guess,” said Italian international Stewart.

“You build-up all pre-season with all that energy, ready to go, and then it was a bit of a slow start this morning.

“But once we got out there, it was a good start.”

Ricardo Vasconcelos was Northamptonshire's top scorer with 39 but he fell in the only over bowled after tea before play was abandoned.

Heavy overnight rain wiped out the morning session but the home side were clearly the happier after winning the toss and rattling through Northamptonshire's top-order in the 26 overs which were possible.

When play finally got under way after 2pm, the visitors initially scored rapidly.

Vasconcelos drove the first ball of the day, from Matt Quinn, for four and they cantered to 26 without loss, until Hogan trapped Hassan Azad lbw for seven in the sixth over.

In the next over, Quinn sent Sam Whiteman's middle-stump flying for just a single and both first-change bowlers then took wickets with their first deliveries.

Joey Evison struck with the first ball of the 12th over, getting Luke Procter caught by Ben Compton at square leg for eight and fellow all-rounder Stewart had Rob Keogh caught behind for three at the start of the 16th.

Stewart subsequently took a superb return catch to dismiss Josh Cobb for seven, clinging onto a drive at ankle height, before he had Lewis McManus caught behind by skipper Sam Billings for five.

Tea was originally scheduled for 4.10pm but, with light deteriorating, the session was curtailed three minutes early.

Vasconcelos fell lbw to Hogan to the fourth ball after an extended interval, which left James Sales and Gareth Berg as the not out batsmen on five and three respectively when play was abandoned for the day.

On debutant Hogan’s impact, Stewart said: “He’s been great.

“He’s someone I’ve kept an eye on for a while. We come from the same country town, funnily enough, in New South Wales, Australia!

“It’s been great having him.

“He’s been awesome around the group for the few weeks he’s been here and I’m sure he’ll be in for a good season.”

Stewart, 29, was also thrilled with his own start to the summer.

On taking a wicket with his first ball of the campaign, he said: “It’s always a nice way to get into the season.

“But everyone bowled beautifully. It was a pretty good start to the season for us.

“Hopefully, we can back it up over the next few days.

"You never know until both teams bat but it’ll be nice to start with a win.”