Joe Clarke’s fourth century of a fine individual summer helped Nottinghamshire rally to a strong total on day one against Hampshire at Trent Bridge.
Clarke struck 105, sharing in partnerships of 136 with debutant Mitchell Hay and of 68 with Jack Haynes, before Liam Patterson-White picked up the baton after his dismissal with a quickfire 92.
It saw the hosts total 377, securing three batting bonus points in an increasingly-congested race at the top of Division One, before Hants edged their way to 12 without loss at stumps.
Classy right-hander Clarke helped the Green and Golds recover from losing the toss and being reduced to 20-3 as Kyle Abbott put them under some early pressure in tricky conditions.
However, after he had weathered that storm in taking 22 balls to score his first run, Clarke profited as the Hampshire attack quickly ran out of steam, tucking in alongside Haynes.
The latter was especially speedy in feasting on Eddie Jack and debutant Manny Lumsden, who at one point was hit for two sixes and a four in the space of four deliveries.
After 64 had been plundered in eight overs, with Haynes moving to 48 at a strike rate above 100, Abbott, the only Hampshire bowler to escape punishment, returned to pin Haynes lbw.
That saw lunch taken at 106-4, with the counter-attacking stand having helped take the total into three figures, and the groundwork laid for Hay and Clarke to comprehensively kick on.
New Zealander Hay supported Clarke well and was later unlucky to be dismissed when just one shy of a half-century on his Trent Bridge bow.
Clarke, who was on 99 when Hay fell to Jack, was not spooked in the slightest and completed his century, continuing an outstanding season in the process, from 159 balls in the next over.
He did fall shortly after to Scott Currie, but not before a first batting point had been banked, and his replacement Patterson-White picked things up to guide the score to 262-6 by tea.
The spin-bowling all-rounder, fresh from an unbeaten ton in his last innings at home against Leicestershire, attacked with intent to reach fifty in just 57 balls, adding 44 with Olly Stone.
The alliance between Patterson-White and Stone brought another batting point as the total passed 300, and further partnerships, marshalled well by the former, kept it moving upwards.
Alongside Dillon Pennington, who swiped an entertaining 24-ball 20, he helped add 47 from just seven overs for the ninth wicket, which was enough for a third bonus point.
Full First-Class debutant Tom Giles, in at 11, aimed to support Patterson-White as he continued on, but the all-rounder became the final man to fall while eight shy of a ton.
It was a cruel way for a fine innings, featuring ten fours and four sixes and showcasing the full extent of Patterson-White’s batting, to end, but it did allow the hosts four overs with the ball.
In that late passage of play, they will have been greatly heartened by the chances on offer, and they will return tomorrow with high hopes against the relegation-haunted visitors.