Kent & Northants 2nd XI 241(77.1 overs) and 425 (120.0 overs)
Warwickshire 2nd XI 255 (70.1 overs) and 415-3 (100.3 overs)
Warwickshire 2nd XI won by 7 wickets
Sam Hain took full advantage of the opportunity to spend time at the crease this week in Canterbury, as he looked to find some red ball form ahead of Warwickshire’s trip to Chelmsford next week, when they take on leaders Essex in the next round of Division 1 County Championship matches.
In a strong Warwickshire side, Hain excelled, scoring centuries in both innings as Warwickshire chased down a daunting target of 412 for the loss of just three wickets in their four day friendly against the combined Kent and Northants side.
Day 1
Winning the toss and batting, Kent & Northants lost three early wickets to Oliver Hannon-Dalby and Mark Adair, before a fourth wicket partnership of 81 between Base 57 and Zaib 36.
The same two bowlers then combined to pick up three further wickets in just ten deliveries as the home side slumped to 119-6 in the 38th over.
Sole 30, Riley 38 and Holling 26 then added useful late order runs until George Panayi 2-34 and Josh Poysden 2-42 brought the innings to a close on 241 in the 78th over, while Hannon-Dalby 3-41 and Adair 3-55 were the most successful Warwickshire bowlers.
There was time before stumps for 16 overs of the Warwickshire reply, during which, Andrew Umeed, Ian Westwood and William Porterfield fell to the opening pair of Hunn and Gleeson as they closed the opening day on 39-3.
Day 2
The fourth wicket partnership had stretched to 55 on the second morning before Matthew Lamb became Hunn’s third victim, bowled for 32. But Hain, now partnered by Alex Mellor powered on, completing his century as the fifth wicket pair added 142 runs in 32 overs before Gleeson trapped Hain lbw for 115 from 149 balls.
Mellor 60 was to be the last wicket to fall after the last five wickets added just 33 runs to give Warwickshire a 14 run lead on first innings.
Gleeson 6-78 was the pick of the bowlers, well supported by his fellow opening bowler, Hunn 3-61.
Kettleborough and Crawley quickly wiped out the first innings deficit with an opening partnership of 67, but Panayi’s two wicket burst before the close checked the home side’s progress as they closed the second day on 142-2 with a lead of 128.
Day 3
Spending much of the third day in the field, Warwickshire slowly worked their way through some obdurate batting from the combined side, with Zaib 114 leading the way with two sixes and 14 fours.
Kettleborough and Adair made half-centuries while Sunny Singh was rewarded for a fine spell of bowling with a final analysis of 5-87 from almost 36 overs and Panayi 3-74 offering strong support.
Bowled out for 425, Kent & Northants set Warwickshire a target of 412 for victory and in the 15 overs remaining in the day, Umeed and Westwood had knocked off 63 of the required runs.
Day 4
Westwood 49 and Umeed completed their century partnership on the final morning, before Westwood and then Porterfield 20 were dismissed to keep the home side believing they could force a victory.
However, once Hain, in sparkling form, joined Umeed, they took complete control, sharing in a third wicket partnership of 244 with both men completing centuries as Warwickshire moved relentlessly towards a comprehensive victory.
Umeed was finally dismissed for a patient 174 with less than 40runs still required, but Lamb joined Hain to steer Warwickshire home by seven wickets with Hain closing unbeaten on 149.
