Kent v Warwickshire

KENT were made to work hard for their wickets in gloomy Canterbury where the hosts edged toward a last day win in their LV Championship Division 1 clash with Warwickshire.

Following on 443 in arrears and already five down overnight, the visitors resumed on 187 still needing 256 to make Kent bat again.

Rob Key, hampered by the absence of Yasir Arafat with a side strain, rang the bowling changes throughout an overcast and damp morning session, but Kent could only make two breakthroughs.

Having taken the second new ball after one over, Kent's first chance of the day came 17 overs later when left-hander Jim Troughton, hampered by back spasms, played back when he might have gone forward and edged behind only to see Geraint Jones down a diving, one-handed chance to his left.

Only five runs on, Troughton's luck ran out when he pushed at an Andrew Hall off-cutter, found an inside edge which Jones this time snaffled diving to his right to make it 235 for six.

Bears' skipper Darren Maddy was proving more determined, however, and failed to offer a chance in moving to 148 by lunch.

His only false shot came with an attempted pull shot against Hall that hit his gloves, only to balloon and bounce to safety in the un-manned fine leg region.

But four balls before the scheduled interval Naqaash Tahir wnet back to a flat James Tredwell arm-ball to go leg before for only six.

With rain forecast for late in the day, showers and bad light may yet thwart Kent's attempts to secure a deserved innings victory.

SCORECARD

Kent first innings

J L Denly c Ambrose b Tahir 36
R W T Key c Loudon b Groenwald 25
M van Jaarsveld c Maddy b Trott 117
J C Tredwell lbw b Carter 11
D I Stevens c Ambrose b Tahir 6
N J Dexter c Carter b Trott 86
G O Jones c sub (Anyon) b Harris 105
A J Hall run out (Troughon) 2
Yasir Arafat not out 101
R McLaren b Carter 21
S J Cook not out 0
Extras 40

Total 550 for nine declared after 156 overs.

Fall of wicket: 1-49, 2-89, 3-106, 4-120, 5-292, 6-307, 7-317, 8-494, 9-543.

Bowling: Carter 30-3-110-2, Daggett 20-6-62-0, Tahir 26-5-78-2, Groenewald 21-4-81-1, Harris 29-5-95-1, Maddy 10-5-13-0, Trott 12-4-33-2, Loudon 8-0-57-0.

Warwickshire first innings

I J Westwood c Jones b Tredwell 15
D L Maddy c Tredwell b McLaren 23P L Harris c Jones b McLaren 4
I J Trott lbw b Cook 0
J O Troughton b McLaren 5
A G R Loudon c Jones b McLaren 4
T D Ambrose c Hall b Stevens 13
T D Groenewald b McLaren 0
N Tahir c McLaren b Hall 12
N M Carter c Arafat b Stevens 2
L M Daggett not out 6
Extras 23

Total 107 all out after 36.3 overs.

Fall of wicket: 1-41, 2-43, 3-49, 4-51, 5-61, 6-70, 7-82, 8-91, 9-95.

Bowling: Yasir Arafat 4-1-13-0, Hall 8-1-37-1, Cook 9-2-19-1, McLaren 11-4-24-5, Tredwell 1-1-0-1.

Warwickshire second innings

I J Westwood c Jones b McLaren 47
D L Maddy not out 148
I J L Trott c Jones b McLaren 0
A G R Loudon c Hall b McLaren 0
T R Ambrose c Dexter b Tredwell 8
T D Groenewald b Tredwell 3
J O Troughton c Jones b Hall 31
N Tahir lbw b Tredwell 6
Extras 25

Total 268 for seven after 109 overs.

Fall of wicket: 1-122, 2-124, 3-124, 4-141, 5-145, 6-235, 7-268.

Bowling: McLaren 23-6-46-3, Hall 20-2-73-1, Tredwell 34.2-13-64-3, Cook 19-4-60-0, Stevens 7-3-8-0, van Jaarsveld 4-2-5-0, Denly 2-2-0-0.

Bonus points: Kent 8pts Warwickshire 2pts.