McLaren drives Kent forward

Kent's Ryan McLaren has taken eight wickets at Canterbury

Only centurion Darren Maddy could dare to hold his head high as Warwickshire collapsed twice over - principally to Ryan McLaren - to lurch towards an innings defeat against Kent at Canterbury.

Maddy top-scored in both innings, albeit tied with extras on 23 out of 107 all out first time round, as Warwickshire limped to 187 for five by the close of day three in this LV Division One match.

Even with the captain’s unbeaten 115 at his second attempt, Warwickshire were still 256 runs short of causing Kent the inconvenience of having to bat again after their 550 for nine declared - including three centuries - on a true pitch.

Pace bowler McLaren bent his back in a series of admirable spells but appeared to get plenty more than he deserved as he followed up his Kent best five for 24 with three for 36 second time round.

The South African Kolpak player did the telling damage with surges of four wickets for 13 runs in 22 balls in the horror show which passed for Warwickshire’s first innings, and then three for one in seven when they hit the skids all over again after the transient promise of a century opening stand between Maddy and Ian Westwood.

Maddy was conspicuous in providing any worthwhile resistance - his third hundred in successive championship matches, among four in his most productive season yet, coming in 221 balls and containing eight fours and two sixes.

Maddy’s hapless team-mates’ fortunes could hardly have been more contrasting.

They folded without identifiable mitigation in perfectly agreeable batting conditions to find themselves following on before lunch.

Darren Maddy was 115 not out

The Bears had already made themselves vulnerable by shipping the wickets of Maddy and Westwood last night - and it took only four overs to hit big trouble.

Jonathan Trott was lbw on the back-foot defence to Simon Cook for the first of his two ducks in the day - before McLaren took his cue to add to his solitary wicket on Saturday.

He had nightwatchman Paul Harris for starters, wafting a catch behind, and followed up in his next over when former Kent batsman Alex Loudon also edged to Geraint Jones - pushing forward at one that left him.

McLaren duly made it three in successive overs, Jim Troughton’s loose drive resulting in a thin edge on to his middle-stump.

After one barren over, Kent’s destroyer was at it again - completing his five-wicket haul with a delivery which was far too good for Tim Groenewald’s back-foot defence and knocked out off-stump.

McLaren needed a rest soon afterwards but refused to stay out of the game for long, snapping up a neat catch at third slip off his compatriot Andrew Hall to see off Naqaash Tahir.

Warwickshire’s only remaining frontline batsman Tim Ambrose was also gone, trying to counter-attack against Darren Stevens’ medium-pace but succeeding only in edging to slip.

When Neil Carter spooned a catch to mid-on off Stevens he brought an appropriate conclusion to an inept display which had lasted less than 37 overs.

The comparative substance of Warwickshire’s second innings was almost entirely thanks to Maddy - with a bit part from Westwood as the openers offered not the semblance of a chance in a wicketless middle session.

James Tredwell claimed three wickets for Kent at Canterbury

In doing so, however, they merely added to the mystery of the processions which came before and afterwards.

The afternoon calm lasted six overs into the evening - until McLaren cranked up the pace from the Nackington Road end.

Westwood was a little unlucky to be caught behind down the leg-side to end a stand of 122, and then Trott went the same way - from a ball which kicked a little.

Loudon fell for a second-ball duck, caught at slip from more McLaren bounce, before off-spinner James Tredwell got in on the act to have Ambrose caught bat-pad and Groenewald losing his leg bail to one which turned up the hill.

Maddy, who had earlier brought up his 50 with the second of two straight sixes in three Tredwell deliveries, was left with only Troughton as a fellow survivor from the published top order. After five wickets had fallen for 23 runs, there was nothing more for Kent to celebrate before stumps - Maddy escaping a half-chance to short-leg on 85.

Home pretensions to claiming the extra half-hour were therefore precluded - but even in Yasir Arafat’s absence from the Kent attack with a side injury, it seems only plenty of forecast bad weather can save Warwickshire on Monday.

Maddy later sought to explain Warwickshire’s very uneven batting, noting there was plenty of swing around for the home attack.

“I thought the ball zipped around a little bit last night and first thing this morning - and Kent bowled really well and put us under a lot of pressure,” he said.

“In the second innings it hasn’t quite had the same sort of zip. The ball swung around a little bit and started ‘reversing’ towards the end, but it was a lot easier to bat if you got your head down - and I’ve tried to cash in.”