Worcestershire shaded day one of their Rothesay County Championship match with at Canterbury, reaching 80 for two at stumps to trail by 158.

They bowled Kent out for 238, with Tom Taylor taking three for 55, while keeper Henry Cullen took five catches. Daniel Bell-Drummond was Kent’s top scorer with 52, but the hosts collapsed in the evening session, losing their last five wickets for just 25.

Hasan Mahmud then took two wickets in two balls to reduce the visitors to 26 for two, but they recovered with an unbroken stand of 54 between, Daniel Lategan and Adam Hose, who were unbeaten on 35 and 24 respectively.

On a potentially pivotal day in the Division Two promotion race, fourth-placed Worcestershire chose to bowl at second-placed Kent under leaden skies, and got Zak Crawley for six in the fourth over. The England man edged Ben Allison to second slip and although Hose initially dropped him, he stuck his hands out and just grabbed the ball before it hit the turf.

Taylor then strangled Ben Compton for eight but Hose spilled Tawanda Muyeye when he nicked Matthew Waite while on 10. With Sam Northeast, Muyeye steered Kent to 90 for two when rain forced an early lunch at 12.25pm.

The first over after the resumption was eventful, with Muyeye taking Adam Finch for ten runs before inexplicably swishing him to Waite at midwicket.

Finch then had Northeast caught behind for 43 off an inside edge.

Bell-Drummond hit Allison for three consecutive fours to reach 18, but got a life when he edged him, straight to second, where Hose again missed a simple chance.

Chris Benjamin made a useful 40 before Beyers Swanepoel had him caught behind off an inside edge and although Bell-Drummond reached 50 just before tea, he was lbw to Waite in the second over after it.

Grant Stewart nicked Waite behind for 19, and Matt Milnes made seven before Tom Taylor had him caught by Allison at first. Dudgeon then nicked Allison behind for eight and the ground staff were revving the tractor before Matt Quinn even arrived at the crease. He holed out to Taylor and Kent were all out with 25 overs remaining.

Worcestershire went to 26 without loss before Hasan took two wickets in two balls at the end of the sixth. He bowled Jake Libby for 18, hitting middle and off, then had Rehaan Edavalath lbw for a golden duck. Yet Lategan survived a toe-crusher from Hasan and was looking set when the light failed with 4.1 overs remaining.

Kent’s Daniel Bell-Drummond said: “It was a good toss for them to win and with 10.30 starts that’s always going to be the case. We were probably a bit under par with the position we got ourselves in. It was always going to be tough with the new ball, but I think with some of the partnerships and the middle order, we probably could have kicked on and pushed towards 270-280.

“There’s definitely opportunities in this wicket. We just need to come back tomorrow and get stuck in and make sure we’re as accurate as possible and then when the chances come, take them. It was one of those wickets. There was always a good ball in there. Myself and Benji (Benjamin) got in after the good partnership with Tawanda and Sam. None of us could really kick on, but they were good contributions nonetheless. We felt we were a bit short, but no doubt we’ll have a good day tomorrow and the bowlers will start well and we’ll stay in this game.

“Hasan is a class performer in general, coming back from the Australia Test matches he’s picked up where he’s left off. He’s got a lot of skill, got good pace, but he can really hurry you up as well and that’s what he did with those two wickets.

“I’d say it’s pretty even. I think if we get too early tomorrow, they’re 100 for forwards, it’s a very even game. 10.30 start, the ball’s still fresh, so no, we’re looking forward to tomorrow. We would have liked to have got a bit more with the bat, but I still think we’re in a good position.”

Worcestershire’s Henry Cullen said: “I think it had a bit of everything. Obviously it was nice to win the toss on what looked like a decent surface to bowl on, especially in the first session, but it’s a day we would definitely have taken at the start of the day.

“It did plenty in the first hour, swing and nip, but it got a lot easier to bat on as the day went on. And the sun came out a little bit after lunch. It was a good cricket wicket on a whole with good pace in it. Yeah, I thought good cricket wicket.

(On the rain delays) “I think it definitely helps the bowling side. The batters have to start again and we had a couple of bang-bangs after those breaks, so it was definitely helpful.

(On taking five catches).“It’s something I’ve been working on all summer really with a few of the guys. And yeah, it’s nice to contribute whether it’s with the bat or with the gloves. Hopefully we can build on it tomorrow.”