Centuries from Alex Hales and Steven Mullaney tilted the balance firmly towards Nottinghamshire on the first day of their LV= County Championship match against Warwickshire at Trent Bridge.
Hales, with a great personal record against the Bears, scored 189 from 216 deliveries, having hit 28 fours and two sixes. He shared in a stand of 257 with Mullaney, who posted 112 as Notts reached 404 for five by stumps after being invited to bat first.
Warwickshire missed an early opportunity to remove Hales, with Ian Westwood spilling a one-handed offering at point when the opener had scored just 12. From then on, the 26-year old was at his imperious best as he reached 1,000 first class runs for the season by making the second highest score of his career.
The England one-day opener was delighted with how the day had gone.
“That felt really good,” he said. “Especially after we’d lost the toss and been asked to bat first. I think it’s quite a decent surface but it swung pretty consistently for them for most of the day. If you got through the tough spells you got good value for your shots.
“I tried to make the bowlers come to me; if they missed their line or length it was the sort of wicket where you could punish them.”
On reaching 1000 first class runs for the season, Hales added, “It’s a great feeling to do it in each of the last two seasons after how 2013 had gone for me. I’ve worked hard at my four day game and I’m really enjoying it.”
Alex Hales and Brendan Taylor gave the home side a solid start, adding 61 together for the first wicket.
Hales was happy to help himself to anything short or over-pitched as he found the boundary boards nine times in his first 38 runs.
Brendan Taylor showed glimpses of his full repertoire, lifting Chris Wright up and over the slip cordon before rattling the over-pitched next ball through the covers.
The introduction of Boyd Rankin produced the breakthrough, as the former Zimbabwe captain edged a sharply rising ball behind for 22.
Steven Mullaney nicked a couple of early boundaries through the slip cordon as he began in positive fashion.
Hales’ eleventh boundary saw him reach his 50 from just 68 deliveries and he hit one more before going in to lunch on 56 not out, from a score of 110 for one.
The opening passage of the afternoon session saw a flurry of boundaries as Hales raced into the eighties. His partner also applied pressure as the bowlers struggled to maintain control.
Mullaney reached his 50 from 72 balls, with eight of them producing boundaries. It also brought up the 100 partnership from only 142 deliveries.
Jonathan Trott was introduced into the attack to bowl the 43rd over and Hales clipped him for two through midwicket to reach his century.
It had come from 121 balls with 18 fours and was his fourth against Warwickshire in the championship.
The rest of the afternoon belonged to Notts as the duo increased the tempo and sped to team and personal milestones.
Mullaney’s hundred came from 145 balls with 13 fours and Hales’ 150 was reached in 167, with 24 boundaries and two maximums.
It wasn’t until the final session that the visitors were able to break the partnership, Mullaney nicking Barker to Jeetan Patel at first slip.
On 188 Hales survived his second life as Ambrose fluffed a stumping opportunity but it wasn’t too costly as Chris Wright clean bowled the opener in the next over.
Warwickshire salvaged a couple of wickets towards the close as Rankin, who ended the day with figures of two for 69, had James Taylor (29) caught behind. William Porterfield, captaining the visitors in the absence of Varun Chopra, had something to smile about at the end of a tough day as he clung on to an edge from Riki Wessels (15) from the bowling of Rikki Clarke.
Samit Patel (20 not out) and Luke Wood (4 not out) saw Notts through to stumps and handily placed to push towards a big total on the second morning.
Day Two of this LV= County Championship fixture, on Saturday 22nd August, is Trent Bridge’s Family Fun Day with entry priced at £1 and a selection of kids entertainment around the ground. Secure your seats now.
Notts Outlaws will face Durham in the quarter-final of the Royal London One-Day Cup on Tuesday 25 August at Trent Bridge and tickets are on sale now. Click here to secure your seats.