Warwickshire v Yorkshire: Seamer Ben Coad continues fine form as Bears struggle

Yorkshire seamer Ben Coad is playing in his fifth first-class match

Warwickshire struggled with the bat again before rain curtailed day one of their County Championship Division One match against Yorkshire at Edgbaston.

The Bears, bowled out for 91 in a big defeat by Surrey in the opening round, fell to 77-7 after being put in.

Yorkshire seamer Ben Coad, who took 6-37 in their defeat by Hampshire, claimed 4-47.

Jeetan Patel (36) and Keith Barker (33 not out) helped the hosts recover to 152-8 when the rain arrived before tea.

One short delay had already disrupted play, with persistent drizzle forcing the players from the field for a final time after only 48.3 overs had been bowled.

Though cloud covered the ground for most of the day, the ball did not move appreciably in the air, with Warwickshire falling foul of Yorkshire's persistence, occasional seam movement and their own indiscretions.

Coad, 23 and in only his fifth first-class game, is probing rather than devastating, and benefitted when William Porterfield loosely drove to mid-off.

He then found the outside edge of Alex Mellor, the first of six wickets to fall for 30 runs.

Jonathan Trott was lbw to Coad, Sam Hain suffered the same fate to Tim Bresnan, albeit to one that looked a touch high, and home captain Ian Bell chased a wide one to edge Steven Patterson behind.

The slump continued after lunch - Tim Ambrose was another to gift an edge from a loose stroke and Rikki Clarke was leg before to become Coad's fourth victim.

Jeetan Patel has scored two first-class hundreds in his career

Patel countered, his 30-ball stay including six fours and one swipe over the mid-wicket fence, before he was deceived by England leg-spinner Adil Rashid.

At the other end, Barker was more assured than any of his team-mates, but now only has Chris Wright for company with Oliver Hannon-Dalby to come. Still, from the position they were in, Warwickshire might think that anything over 200 is a decent return.

David Willey, in his first action since suffering a shoulder injury playing for England in January, lacked rhythm in 11 wicketless overs.

Warwickshire all-rounder Keith Barker told BBC Sport:

"The ball has done quite a bit and they bowled really well. We lost more wickets than we wanted to and we're trying to claw it back.

"Sometimes lads can down on confidence, but it's part of cricket. You to try to rebuild, keep practising and hopefully the right things will happen.

"If we can be pushing 200, we might have a chance. The weather can hopefully can give us some assistance."