Honours were just about even at the end of an eventful first day of Nottinghamshire’s Specsavers County Championship match against Northamptonshire at Wantage Road.

Luke Wood returned figures of four for 52, his best of the season, as Northamptonshire were bowled out for 194. Brett Hutton was also impressive, taking three wickets for 52.

Rory Kleinveldt top-scored for the home county with 43, then pegged Notts back by taking four for 34 as Notts closed on 80 for five, still trailing by 114.

Notts’ assistant head coach Paul Franks agreed that the spoils were just about shared.

“Yes, I think so, that’s a solid assumption. I think there was a bit in the surface most of the day,” he said.

“I thought we bowled well as a unit again but it’s evenly balanced on a pitch that seems to have quite a bit in it but that’s something that we were anticipating.

“It’s up to us to turn up tomorrow and make sure we do the dog work in the first session and get back into this game on the front foot.

“I thought Billy Root looked calm at the crease, so he’s still there and there’s the captain and Tom Moores to come, so we will be looking to build some partnerships, so all is not lost but we’ve got a bit of work to do and that responsibility falls to the rest of the lads to get us into a good position.”

Franks added that the tone was set at the start of the day for his bowlers. “Our new ball spell was important," he said.

"Richard Levi looked fluent so it was nice to get rid of him when we did, then Kleinveldt and Cobb built a partnership to get them to a score that they were probably ok with - and in the context of the game, it does seem quite a decent first innings score.”

On a fresh morning, with play set for a wicket on the very edge of the square, it was no real surprise when Chris Read opted to get his bowlers involved from the start.

Hutton and Wood bowled superb opening spells, putting Northants on the back foot from the off.

Wood needed just four balls of the second over to trap Rob Newton lbw and in his next over he squared up Ben Duckett, who obliged with a simple return catch off the outside edge.

From 12 for two, it became 34 for three as Hutton picked up a deserved scalp. He had repeatedly beaten the outside edge, before finally grazing the bat of Alex Wakeley; with Riki Wessels doing the rest at first slip.

Richard Levi played some handsome drives in making 35 from only 30 balls, an innings that contained seven boundaries.

The South African was looking to dominate against the Notts attack but became the second leg before victim of the opening session as Wood brought one back into his pads.

The hosts were 83 for four at lunch but soon slid to 94 for six, with Hutton picking up two more wickets in quick succession.

Rob Keogh had battled for 94 minutes and made 15 before he was victim of an audacious diving catch by Steven Mullaney at second slip.

David Murphy failed to get off the mark before nudging his seventh delivery and Mullaney took a more routine offering to bring up a second bowling point for Notts.

Harry Gurney joined the list of wicket-takers, with the prize of his former Leicestershire team-mate Josh Cobb. The right-hander nibbled at Gurney and Wessels pouched his second catch of the day.

Kleinveldt played an innings of solid defiance but an ambitious swish at the spin of Samit Patel proved his undoing, with the left-arm bowler then having Ben Sanderson caught at slip.

Wood returned to the attack to finish the innings by flattening Nathan Buck’s off stump.

Notts began their reply after tea and the openers added 22 together, before Kleinveldt began to make inroads.

He bowled Mullaney for 15, had Cheteshwar Pujara caught at slip for nought and then had Jake Libby leg before for 13.

It became 56 for four when Patel fell lbw to Buck for 13 and Wessels was last out, edging Kleinveldt behind for 19.

Root and nightwatchman Wood saw out the final couple of overs and the two young left-handers will resume on the second morning.