| LV= County Championship Division One, Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton (day one): |
| Nottinghamshire 282-6: Clarke 59, Patterson-White 46*, Mullaney 42; Abell 2-53 |
| Somerset: Yet to bat |
| Nottinghamshire 2 pts, Somerset 2 pts |
| Scorecard |
Joe Clarke hit a half-century as Nottinghamshire had the better of day one against Somerset at Taunton.
After being put in to bat, Jack Brooks (2-62) removed openers Ben Slater and Ben Duckett to leave Notts 44-2.
Sam Northeast was trapped lbw for 34 after lunch but Clarke’s 59 and an innings of 42 from Steven Mullaney saw Notts regain some control.
Liam Patterson-White (46 not out) helped put on 74 for the seventh wicket before the visitors closed on 282-6.
There was some swing and seam movement early on in overcast conditions for Somerset’s depleted seam attack, with Craig Overton away on England duty and Lewis Gregory nursing a back injury.
The first two wickets were given away fairly cheaply, with Slater guiding a short ball to backward point and Duckett top-edging an attempted pull shot.
After Northeast, on his Nottinghamshire debut on loan from Hampshire, was out looking to drive Josh Davey, Clarke brought up his half-century off 97 balls, with five fours.
But he headed back to the pavilion once he was caught behind off a thin bottom edge attempting to pull Tom Abell (2-53).
The gloomy conditions and cold wind continued after tea, with Lyndon James edging behind for 30 – and the pattern of batsmen getting a start and not going on to a big score continued when skipper Mullaney was given lbw to a straight ball from Marchant de Lange.
Patterson-White improved Notts’ position with a succession of fours before bad light ended play for the day 7.2 overs early.
