Warwickshire 453 for 4 declared (Hain 165*, Yates 128, Mousley 94) beat Kent 158 (Bell-Drummond 40, Hasan 3-36) and 281 (Evison 99, Compton 88, Rushworth 3-58, Woakes 3-59) by an innings and 14 runs
Warwickshire overcame a superb Kent rearguard action to claim a thrilling LV=Insurance County Championship victory with six overs to spare in the final-day gloom at Edgbaston.
Kent were within touching distance of a great escape when, with the light fading fast, Oliver Hannon-Dalby returned to have McKerr brilliantly caught by Will Rhodes at fourth slip and then Hasan sealed the win with a luscious outswinger to the heroic Evison.
Warwickshire deserved the win, having dominated the match, and their vibrant start to the season hints at a potential title challenge to follow their dismal 2022 campaign. For Kent, the final-day fighting spirit offered some consolation but the thrashing came as a major jolt after their opening-round victory over Northamptonshire.
They are at least likely to be boosted by the return from injury of seamer Grant Stewart when they face Essex at Canterbury next week. Whether Matt Quinn recovers in time from a groin injury sustained in this match remains to be seen.
Kent resumed on the final morning 27 for 1, needing to bat out the day, but plummeted to 51 for 5 in the first 12 overs. Warwickshire’s seamers continued where they left off the previous day when they took 11 wickets in 52 overs.
Rob Yates took two superb low catches to remove Daniel Bell-Drummond and Jack Leaning, Rhodes made no mistake to oust Joe Denly and Jordan Cox, having defied for just over an hour for 29, edged to Sam Hain. When skipper Sam Billings decided too late to leave a ball from Hannon-Dalby and deflected it on to his middle stump, it was 99 for 7.
That left Kent’s last two wickets with 36 overs to survive, and they came gallantly close to achieving it before the depth and quality of Warwickshire’s refurbished seam attack had the final say.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo