Woakes and Tahir stun Kent

Warwickshire 250 and 327 beat Kent 377 and 156 by 44 runs
Scorecard

Warwickshire required less than four hours to skittle Kent and land a remarkable 44-run win with only eight overs remaining on an action-packed final day at Canterbury in which 16 wickets fell. Set to chase 201 in the 68 overs remaining in the contest, Kent made a dismal start when Joe Denly had his middle stump plucked out by Chris Woakes from the second ball of the pursuit.

Soon after lunch Geraint Jones (12) fished outside off to be caught behind off the same bowler, then Rob Key (22) was caught on the back foot to fall lbw to Rikki Clarke - one of 17 lbw victims in the game. Kent regrouped with a fourth-wicket stand between Sam Northeast and Martin van Jaarsveld that added 63 in 18 wickets, with van Jaarsveld scoring Kent's only half-century from 66 balls.

But Northeast's demise for 26, lbw to the pick of the visiting attack, Imran Tahir, sparked a remarkable collapse as Kent snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Van Jaarsveld's resistance ended for 59 after almost two hours when he fell to Darren Maddy and four balls later James Hockley (1) had his off-stump feathered by a leg-cutter to make it 128 for 6.

The hosts needed 70 off the final 20 overs of the match with four wickets still intact and at an asking rate of only 3.5 an over. However, the task proved beyond them as Tahir (4 for 27) and Woakes (3 for 43) ran through the tail to record a 21-point win. Matt Coles and Darren Stevens inexplicably holed out in the deep, Simon Cook became the final lbw victim of the match, while last man Makhaya Ntini completed a miserable home debut by having his middle stump plucked out by Woakes for a third-ball duck.

The fourth and final day started with a flurry of Warwickshire wickets as Kent mopped up their last six for 69 runs in the space of 27 overs to be batting again five minutes before lunch. Resuming on 258 for 4 - a slender overall lead of 131 - the visitors lost Jonathan Trott in the third over of the day having added only a single to his overnight 65. Playing half-forward to Matt Coles' second ball of the day, a shooting off-cutter, Trott became the third of six lbw victims in the innings.

Rikki Clarke (4) then fell to Simon Cook, before - 15 runs later - allrounder Woakes scooped an airy drive into the hands of Hockley at backward point to make it 278 for 7 and give Amjad Khan figures of 3 for 63. Some belligerent hitting from left-hander Neil Carter (37 not out) took his side past 300, but Kent hit back to claim the last three Warwickshire wickets for two runs in the space of 14 deliveries.

Tim Ambrose (14) jumped back and across in defence against Cook to go lbw and Naqaash and Imran Tahir failed to trouble the scorers. Naqaash steered a delivery to slip off the bowling of occasional offspinner van Jaarsveld, then namesake Imran had his leg stump plucked out by Cook - who finished with 3 for 75.