Warwickshire fight back against Sussex

Warwickshire fought back on the opening day of their game with Sussex at Edgbaston after Bears old boy James Anyon put them in early trouble.

Anyon (3-69) struck twice with the new ball to leave Warwickshire 30-2.

William Porterfield (66) and Laurie Evans (52) began the recovery before Monty Panesar (3-57) reduced the hosts from 117-2 to 192-6.

But Chris Woakes (45no) and Tim Ambrose (44no) dug their side out of trouble again to reach the close on 261-6.

Michael Yardy, leading Sussex in the championship for the first time in seven weeks, guessed dampness in the pitch would help his bowlers when he won the toss and elected to field.

And he was proved right as Anyon removed openers Varun Chopra and Ian Westwood in the space of 22 deliveries.

Porterfield and Evans were then both dropped - at backward point and in the slips respectively - at a cost as Warwickshire recovered, with Ireland captain Porterfield scoring his fifth championship half-century this season and Evans his first in the competition.

But Panesar then settled into an excellent spell of 32 consecutive overs to peg the hosts back by trapping Evans and Rikki Clarke lbw, either side of having Jim Troughton caught at silly point.

The dismissal of Clarke proved to be Sussex's last, though, as Woakes was dropped twice in adding an unbroken 69 with Ambrose, mostly against the new ball, before the close.

CLOSE OF PLAY SUMMARY

BBC Coventry & Warwickshire's Clive Eakin:

"After the 'thrills and spills' of Twenty20 cricket, this was an absorbing day between two competitive teams both reluctant to give anything away.

"Warwickshire have shown the sort of application they were incapable of last season. Jim Troughton and Tim Ambrose's two-runs-an-over 50 partnership has laid the foundations for a score of 300-plus which would be a good one on a pitch taking seam movement and already a bit of turn.

"Warwickshire's championship credentials depend on them having strength in depth and there's evidence they've got that as the 23rd player used this season, Laurie Evans, scored an impressive half-century."