Joe Clarke’s century helped spark a Nottinghamshire rally on day three of their LV=County Championship match against Warwickshire.

The right-handed batter spearheaded a resilient middle-order recovery, scoring an unbeaten 119 off 178 balls, having batted for almost four hours and not given a chance, picking up 22 boundaries.

Skipper Steven Mullaney concluded proceedings not out on 37 in an unbroken fifth-wicket stand worth 81after the Bears enforced a follow-on earlier in the day.

Notts ended the evening session on 267/4, trailing by 149 runs after recovering from a first innings total of 155.

The stormy conditions that brought day two to an end had cleared by the start of play, and there was barely a cloud in the Trent Bridge sky as Mullaney and Tom Moores entered the crease to continue the home side’s first innings.

The former was well caught at short midwicket at the end of the fifth full over of the day, though a third victim for Hasan Ali. 

Moores and Calvin Harrison attacked defiantly before departing in consecutive overs. Moores was bowled driving - a first wicket of the season for skipper Will Rhodes - and Harrison miscued one to long leg having pulled Rushworth for four and six the previous over.

Rhodes picked up his second when Jake Ball fended a short ball to first slip and one over of spin from Danny Briggs was enough to tempt last man Dane Paterson to put one down the throat of long-off.

The final wickets were taken with Nottinghamshire ending the first innings on 155 all out, trailing Warwickshire by 416.

The away side enforced a follow-on, but found immediate resistance with Ben Slater and Haseeb Hameed adding 61 for the first wicket. 

But as in the first innings, the introduction of Hasan changed the picture. Hameed, misreading a ball angled in by the Pakistan quick, lost his off stump offering no shot. Two balls later, new man Matt Montgomery was hit in front, beaten for pace.

Clarke, patient at first, hit three lovely straight drives to the boundary off Rhodes but just as it seemed he and Slater might assert themselves and get the innings back on an even keel, the captain brought Briggs on for Hasan at the pavilion end and Slater spooned to short midwicket.

Clarke continued to place fours in a calm and methodical manner, though. His half-century came from 72 balls before tea, without a shot in anger.

James, by contrast, was content simply to block, and the combination worked well as Clarke - helped by four boundaries in one over off the medium pace of Rhodes - moved into the 80s for the first time this season until James, having tucked one away nicely through midwicket for only his third boundary in an hour and three-quarters at the crease, was drawn into playing a ball from Rushworth that took the edge and had him caught at first slip.

Clarke picked up a couple more boundaries off Oliver Hannon-Dalby with Mullaney for company to move into the 90s as the session wore on, and bided hit time before driving Hasan through extra cover to reach the milestone with his 19th boundary.