Kent collapsed after a promising first hour to be left firmly on the back foot of their Vitality County Championship Division 1 encounter at Worcestershire on Thursday.
Home all-rounder Joe Leach finished with 6-52 from 11.5 overs – the second best figures of his career – as Kent were dismissed for 171 in 49.5 overs after being put into bat.
Three wickets in 13 balls saw Kent subside from 73-0 and they lost 10 wickets for 98 in 32.4 overs.
There was also an encouraging debut for New Zealand paceman James Hartshorn (1-18), who bowled a nagging line and length.
But the bowlers were also backed up by some fine catching behind the wicket – most notably by Rob Jones who held onto four chances at second slip.
Gareth Roderick continued his form with a half-century to spearhead Worcestershire’s reply and they closed 34 runs in arrears with eight wickets in hand.
Worcestershire handed an opportunity to Hartshorn after fellow Kiwi Nathan Smith was forced to cut short his spell at New Road through injury.
Kent head coach Matt Walker said: “(It was) an interesting pitch. I think it mirrored both innings how it played.
“Once the heavy roller wore off and the lacquer came off the ball a bit, it started to do plenty.
“The last hour-and-a-half of the day for us with the ball, there were plenty of chances created. Plenty happening out there.
“We were a little disappointed we didn’t end up with more wickets. I thought we bowled well enough to create a few dismissals but it wasn’t to be.
“They played well. The difference was we seemed to find the edge of our bat in that little period when Leach was bowling.
“We’d have liked a few more runs. The way we started, 73-0, and then that spell of an hour reduced us pretty quickly into a hole.
“But that last part of the day, I thought we could have at least had them halfway out (five wickets down) but it wasn’t to be.
“But we’ve got to back that up tomorrow. There is plenty happening out there and, hopefully, we can reduce them to a similar score to what we got.”
Captain Brett D’Oliveira, Kashif Ali, Leach and Adam Finch returned after lengthy spells on the sidelines.
Kent included new signings in pace duo Alfie Ogborne, on loan from Somerset, and West Indian Akeem Jordan. Both additions were rushed across the line the day ahead of the match.
D’Oliveira put Kent into bat and Tawanda Muyeye adopted an aggressive vein with a succession of boundaries.
He completed a 62-ball half-century with his 10th boundary – but the game turned on its head after Leach switched to the New Road End.
Muyeye (56) pushed forward to a delivery which left him and Jones held onto a catch away to his left at second slip.
Kent skipper Daniel Bell-Drummond was undone by a similar ball with Ethan Brookes at third slip making no mistake.
Leach had settled into a rhythm and Jack Leaning edged through to keeper Gareth Roderick.
Worcestershire continued to apply the pressure in the immediate post-lunch session with three more quick wickets.
Finch (2-51), whose first two overs had cost 27 runs, returned and accounted for Joey Evison who drove hard at a ball which nipped away and was caught behind.
Hartshorn picked up his first wicket for the county as Harry Finch cut a delivery which swung away to Jake Libby at backward point.
It became 103-6 when Finch found the inside edge of Ben Compton’s bat and Roderick did the rest for his third catch.
At that point, Kent had lost six wickets for 30 runs in 15.4 overs.
There was then a breakthrough for Tom Taylor (1-35) when Matt Parkinson flashed hard and Jones made no mistake at second slip.
Leach collected a fourth scalp when Grant Stewart went for a big hit back down the ground and had his off-stump knocked back.
He finished the innings in quickfire fashion with Jones holding onto two more sharp opportunities at second slip to dismiss Ogborne and George Garrett.
Roderick and Libby then provided Worcestershire with an assured start to their innings and the 50 came up in only 11.1 overs.
The partnership was worth 89 when Libby (30) pushed forward to Ogborne (1-40) and was caught behind.
New batsman Kashif Ali quickly brought up the Worcestershire hundred with a cover drive for four off the same bowler but, on 17, he fended a delivery of extra bounce from Jordan (1-20) to first slip.
Roderick completed a 107-ball half-century with seven fours.
