Warwickshire returned to home comforts by pocketing maximum bowling points after dismissing already relegated Northamptonshire for 273 on the first day at Edgbaston
Press Association09-Sep-2014
ScorecardJames Kettleborough notched another half-century to provide some ballast for Northamptonshire•Getty Images
Warwickshire returned to home comforts by pocketing maximum bowling points after dismissing already relegated Northamptonshire for 273 on the first day at Edgbaston.After more than two months without a home fixture in the four-day competition, they continued their impressive form in all formats despite an initial struggle when choosing to bowl first.They also had to overcome substantial lower-order resistance as veteran Andrew Hall helped the in-form Ben Duckett put on 96 in 24 overs for the eighth wicket. Yet they were able to finish in a strong position. In the 16 overs they had until the close the hosts finished on 79 for 1, cutting the deficit to 194.Varun Chopra finished the day unbeaten on 43 alongside William Porterfield who made 24 after they lost Ian Westwood for 1, caught at first slip in David Willey’s second over.Northamptonshire, still without a win in their first top-flight campaign in a decade, had set off at a gallop with Stephen Peters and James Kettleborough taking 63 off 16 overs, mostly at the expense of Chris Woakes and Keith Barker.Oliver Hannon-Dalby put the brakes on with a spell of 2 for 21 and if he was the bowler of the morning, removing Peters for 35 – with the first of five catches for wicketkeeper Tim Ambrose – before nipping one between Kyle Coetzer’s bat and pad.Rob Keogh clipped the first ball of Barker’s second morning spell to midwicket before opener Kettleborough, who has latterly become one of the brighter spots of their season and with 71 here, went beyond 50 for the third time in 10 Championship innings.Rikki Clarke teamed up with Ambrose to remove the opener after a partnership of 64 with Adam Rossington for the fourth wicket. Barker then came to the fore, starting with successive catches by Ambrose from James Middlebrook and Rossington, the latter having recovered from a sticky start to make 44, Barker trapped Willey leg-before to finish with figures of 4 for 61.Barker’s burst knocked Northants back to 169 for 7 in the afternoon session, yet they were far from finished when Duckett, after giving a couple of half-chances, developed a meaningful follow-up to his maiden century against Somerset last week.Enlisting strident support from 39-year-old Hall, Duckett played positively for his 55 from 89 balls, and with his partner no slouch in reaching 43 from 75, Warwickshire were forced on to the back foot.When the end came, it was a swift kill for Warwickshire. Duckett gave a return catch to Jeetan Patel and Hall topped up Ambrose’s bag of dismissals before Hannon-Dalby had Neil Wagner caught in the deep to finish with figures of 4 for 57 – his best for Warwickshire.