County Championship: 15 wickets fall on day one between Worcestershire and Derbyshire

Dillon Pennington took four early wickets as Derbyshire slumped to 14-5

Dillon Pennington's new-ball burst and Kashif Ali's half-century on his first-class debut gave Worcestershire the initiative on the opening day of their County Championship match against Derbyshire at New Road.

Pennington reduced the visitors to 14-5 with four wickets in the space of 18 balls after they had been put into bat and, despite 55 from Anuj Dal, they were bowled out for 130 in 51.1 overs.

The pace bowler clearly enjoys bowling against Derbyshire, having registered career-best figures of 5-32 and a match return of 9-76 in the corresponding game last season.

Worcestershire also had initial problems when they launched their reply but Kashif seized his chance following a mountain of runs for the second XI and they closed on 141-5 when bad light and then rain halted play at 17:35 BST.

Kashif - the first product of the South Asian Cricket Academy to sign a professional contract with a first-class county earlier this season - showed his potential with three hundreds and four fifties in his last seven knocks for the seconds and registered a 72-ball half-century on Monday.

He went on to become one of several players during the day who surrendered their wicket to careless shots, although there was enough movement on a greenish pitch to keep the seamers interested.

Worcestershire handed a debut to Pakistan pace bowler Muhammad Hasnain, while batter Kashif made his first Championship appearance after recently signing a short-term contract.

Jake Libby led the hosts, with club captain Brett D'Oliveira ruled out with a back injury, while Derbyshire were unchanged from the team which drew with Nottinghamshire.

Libby won an important toss on a green-tinged wicket and his bowlers soon justified his decision to put the visitors into bat.

Joe Leach struck with the last delivery of the opening over as Harry Came was plumb lbw to a ball of full length.

But it was Pennington who broke the back of the Derbyshire top order with a superb opening burst of 4-2-3-4 which reduced them to 14-5.

Brooke Guest was bowled offering no shot to a ball angled in and then Wayne Madsen, who began the day needing 32 runs to reach 1,000 for the season, did not reduce that tally as he edged a delivery which nipped away to Josh Baker at fourth slip.

Luis Reece and Hilton Cartwright were both caught behind by Gareth Roderick, after pushing forward to Pennington.

Derbyshire captain Leus Du Plooy opted for an aggressive response and dominated the scoring during a sixth-wicket stand of 39 with Dal.

But Ed Barnard, who is to join Warwickshire on a three-year deal from next season, made further inroads with wickets in successive overs.

Du Plooy, on 38, played with an angled bat at a delivery and gave Baker another catch, this time at third slip, and Mattie McKiernan offered no shot but inside-edged onto the stumps without troubling the scorers.

Derbyshire were then 53-7 and in danger of being bowled out before lunch but resistance came from Dal and Ben Aitchinson, who added 56 in 22 overs before Barnard came back into the attack and had Aitchinson nibbling at a delivery which was safely pouched by Roderick.

Dal mixed solid defence with some classy shots and two cuts for four off spinner Baker enabled him to complete a 104-ball half-century with eight boundaries.

Hasnain had bowled two threatening spells without any luck but cleaned up the tail in classic fast bowler's fashion as he yorked both Sam Conners and Dal.

Pennington ended with figures of 12-3-36-4, Barnard 12-5-18-3, Hasnain 11.1-0-35-2 and Leach 9-4-16-1.

Worcestershire also ran into trouble against the new ball and found themselves 23-3 in the fifth over.

Conners knocked out Libby's off stump with a ball which nipped back and Ed Pollock, having struck Aitchinson for six over mid-wicket, tried to upper-cut his next ball and was caught behind.

Taylor Cornall flicked at a leg-side delivery from Conners and also found the gloves of Guest.

But the momentum of the game switched into Worcestershire's favour as Jack Haynes and Kashif counter-attacked during a stand of 97 in 18.4 overs.

Haynes reeled off a succession of delightful cover drives and flicks off his legs while Kashif produced a series of back-foot punches which pierced the field.

The pair took Worcestershire into the lead only to then both surrender their wickets to loose shots.

Haynes, on 48, and Kashif, 52, both chased wide deliveries from Conners and George Scrimshaw respectively and gave Guest two more catches.

Report supplied by the ECB Reporters' Network.