Nottinghamshire’s attack bowled with great discipline on the opening day of their Specsavers County Championship match against Warwickshire at Edgbaston.

The home side were restricted to a first day score of 181 for three, with the final session cut short by three overs when a heavy shower swept over the ground just after 6pm.

Dominic Sibley batted throughout the day, facing a colossal 264 balls for his 81 not out.

Notts made two changes to the side that were beaten on the Isle of Wight in their last fixture. Out went the two Jakes, Libby and Ball, with Samit Patel returning and James Pattinson coming in for his first championship match of the season after a side strain.

Pattinson took the second over, after Luke Fletcher had begun with a maiden but it took until the 10th over – and a change of ends – before the visitors made a breakthrough. With 38 runs on the board Will Rhodes nicked Fletcher into the safe hands of Matt Carter at second slip for 15.

The wicket came an over after Rhodes had survived a hugely confident lbw shout against Stuart Broad, who then almost bowled Rob Yates, with the 19-year old electing to leave alone a delivery that shaved the stumps.

Sibley batted throughout the morning, reaching lunch (78-1) on 23 not out but having seen a nick off Pattinson fall just short of Carter.

Notts again kept a tight lid on things for the opening half an hour of the afternoon session and it brought reward. Yates hadn’t been able to add to his interval score of 24 before being bowled, all ends up, by a beauty from Broad that pitched on middle and sent the off-stump tumbling.

Steven Mullaney had taken the first over of the session and kept going, bowling unchanged for two hours – until giving Patel the final over before tea.

Mullaney’s nagging accuracy failed to produce a wicket but figures of 0-22 from 17 overs told a story.

Warwickshire’s afternoon had brought them just 39 runs in 35 overs on a slow, low wicket that none of the batsmen seemed to trust.

Sibley’s 50 had come from 185 balls, with just three boundaries.

Sam Hain had taken 22 deliveries to get off the mark and another 33 balls had seen him add just another single. To ironic applause he stroked a boundary through the covers off Broad soon after tea and followed it with a leg-side clip for four more.

Notts were gifted their third wicket in comical fashion. Hain (23) pushed the ball firmly towards mid-on and set off for a run. Sibley didn’t budge.

Patel fielded sharply but shied at the non-striker’s end, where both batsmen were.

Chris Nash backed up and returned the ball to the other end, where Tom Moores whipped off the bails just before Hain could get back.

Notts took the second ball as soon as it became due but Pattinson, Fletcher and Broad were again starved of any good fortune as the batsmen played and missed with great regularity.

In gloomy conditions, with the floodlights shining brightly, the umpires didn’t hesitate as soon as the rain began to fall and play was suspended for the day with the match still in the balance.

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