Bell shows his class

Ian Bell hit 95 not out as Warwickshire made a strong start to their reply today

England batsman Ian Bell made an unbeaten 95 from 136 balls as Division Two leaders Warwickshire enjoyed a stronger second day in their LV County Championship Division Two match against Gloucestershire at Edgbaston.

New Zealand pace bowler Chris Martin took 5-84 on his debut as the bottom-of-the-table west country team were dug out for 336 and Warwickshire closed 193 behind on reaching 143 for two from 45 overs.

Bell, with an eye on a good score in the build-up to the first npower Test against South Africa next week, was at his measured best from he outset. Timing most of his shots to perfection, he drove eight boundaries on his way to 50 from 66 balls.

His innings began during a sharp opening stint by Steve Kirby. A Warwickshire target for next season, the former Yorkshire fast bowler had stand-in opener Michael Powell neatly caught at second slip by Marcus North.

But Bell was a different proposition, calmly resisting the efforts of a Gloucestershire attack parading loan signings David Wigley and AJ Harris. Bell pinged Wigley’s first two balls to the boundary and eventually put on 100 for the second wicket before his partner, Navdeep Poonia, was lbw for 26, attempting to sweep North.

Earlier Gloucestershire batted on for almost two sessions, but in losing their last eight wickets for 146, they wasted an opportunity to develop a strong position at the end of the rain-shortened first day.

With only 20 overs to get through to the new ball, Warwickshire might have settled for containment. Instead they bowled their opening pair for 45 minutes and secured a wicket when Martin trapped North on the back foot.

Gloucestershire's Steve Kirby is felled by a Chris Martin bouncer in the Division Two encounter

Martin again impressed with his pace on a slow surface, and when the Kiwi Test bowler was rested after a six-over spell for 16 runs, Gloucestershire gifted wickets to Neil Carter in successive overs from the left-arm pace bowler.

Hamish Marshall, previously error-free in hitting 18 fours and a six in his 121, and Chris Taylor (26) both pulled short balls to Ant Botha at mid-wicket. If this was a clever ploy by Warwickshire, the batsmen obligingly took the bait.

Botha, in his first Championship match as a stand-in captain, later held a much sharper chance, low to his left hand at second slip, when Martin re-joined the attack and removed Alex Gidman (18) in his second over after taking the new ball.

Gidman batted at No 7 despite dislocating a thumb in practice and his further participation in the match is in doubt.

Jon Lewis was another batsman to fall to a sucker punch, cutting Chris Woakes to deep backward point, and Wigley was hopelessly stranded when sent back by Stephen Snell after looking for a second run.

While Snell went on to make an unbeaten 54, Martin finished the innings with two wickets in three balls. Kirby top edged to square leg and Harris was lbw to a yorker.