Samit Patel and James Taylor combined in a stand of 192 to lift Nottinghamshire to an all-out total of 377 on the first day of their LV= county championship match against Durham at Trent Bridge.
Patel scored 99 and shared in a new county fourth wicket record stand against Durham with James Taylor, who made 88.
For the fourth time this season Taylor passed fifty, yet he is still looking for his first championship hundred of 2014.
“Usually my conversion rate is pretty good,” he said, adding, “it’s unfortunate I didn’t get to three figures again but it’s more important that we’ve got a good total on the board.
“Myself and Samit added nearly 200 together and we’ve got to be pretty content to get to 377, especially after that start and the way the pitch played early on.
“There’s plenty of bounce from one end and we just hope our bowlers can exploit that and get a few early poles tomorrow morning.”
The Nottinghamshire side showed two changes from that which beat Northants a fortnight ago, with Steven Mullaney returning after injury and Stuart Broad coming in for his first match of the summer, ahead of the international fixtures.
They replaced Alex Hales, called away on England ODI duty, and Andy Carter, rested for the first time this season.
With a number of notable absentees through injury, Durham, the reigning county champions gave a debut to Gavin Main, a 19-year old fast bowler.
Overnight rain meant the start was delayed by 30 minutes but Chris Read had no hesitation in opting to bat first having won the toss.
Mullaney’s return to the side couldn’t have been worse, edging the first ball of the match, from Chris Rushworth, through to wicketkeeper Phil Mustard.
Early pressure intensified on the home batsmen as Rushworth and his opening partner, Usman Arshad, bowled tight spells – which were then buoyed by the collection of two further wickets.
Phil Jaques (11) nicked Arshad into the waiting hands of Gareth Breese at second slip and Michael Lumb (13) pulled the same bowler straight to Keaton Jennings on the deep square leg boundary.
Samit Patel and James Taylor both began their innings as the change bowlers came into the attack and they immediately put pressure upon Gavin Main and Ben Stokes.
Main, from Lanark in Scotland, looked nervous as Patel crunched him for three elegant boundaries in his opening over.
Stokes, making his first team return after breaking his hand on England duty in March, was more disciplined but understandably rusty.
Neither batsman was in the mood to let the bowlers settle as they dominated the hour leading up to lunch.
Patel passed fifty for the fifth time this season (41 balls 10x4) and Taylor was unbeaten on 35 as they added an unbroken 94 together (from 19.1 overs) to reach lunch on 123-3.
The afternoon began with Taylor taking the upper hand and refusing to be tied down, especially against Breese. After Arshad had bowled the first over of the session, the off spinner replaced him at the Radcliffe Road Stand and bowled unchanged for the next two hours.
Taylor’s fourth half century of the season (79 balls 10x4) was celebrated in style as he twice skipped down the track to lift Breese over the ropes at long on.
The two batsmen slugged it out, matching each other shot for shot, eye-catching stroke for eye-catching stroke.
Patel forged ahead into the eighties and then went from 92 to 99 with his first maximum, lifting Breese into the William Clarke Stand.
Another single followed – but then the unthinkable – as a shortish ball from Stokes was deliberately lifted up and over by the batsman towards the third man area, where Breese took a an excellent catch, diving full length in front of him to complete the dismissal.
Barely had the standing ovation for Patel’s innings died down, when there was a repeat. This time Taylor, on 88, went to square cut Stokes and the ball flew high towards Breese, who completed a carbon copy dismissal.
Riki Wessels had an early scare in his innings. Pushing a ball into the covers he set off for a scampered single and was fortunate to beat Michael Richardson’s direct hit, which rebounded off the stumps for an overthrow.
Wessels (23) added 39 with his skipper but then perished shortly after changing his bat when he was squared up and offered a return catch to the debutant, Main.
Main’s day improved significantly when a yorker burst through the defences of Stuart Broad (0). Chris Read, meanwhile, had advanced into double figures for the eleventh consecutive time this season in the first class matches.
Peter Siddle helped Read add 59 for the eighth wicket, with both men playing handsomely. The Australian lifted the ball for a couple of one-bounce straight hits, whilst Read repeatedly peppered the extra cover boundary.
With Breese whirling away for 23 consecutive overs, the scoreboard at one stage showed Durham’s over-rate as being +7.
The second new ball accelerated the scoring but once Stokes returned to the attack he soon accounted for Siddle (31), who was given out lbw by umpire Neil Bainton to end a stand of 59.
Durham thought they’d got Read, on 48, when everyone went up for a caught behind off Rushworth but he was still there to pull the same bowler for 4 through midwicket to reach his fifty (104 balls 7x4).
Ajmal Shahzad (7) pulled Main to Richardson at deep square leg, allowing ten minutes of frenzied hitting at the end as Notts ensured a fouth batting point.
Andre Adams (19) was immediately into his stride, clubbing his first ball for four, before hitting Arshad for a powerful straight six, before holing out with just one ball of the day remaining.
Breese took the catch his fourth of the day, and walked off beside the Notts captain, who ended undefeated on 59.