Nottinghamshire’s bowlers fought back from a tricky morning session to restrict Worcestershire to 305 for seven at the end of day one of the LV=Insurance County Championship fixture at New Road.
With the hosts having been 140 for none at lunch after winning the toss, three wickets in four overs either side of Tea helped Nottinghamshire, who are on the road for the first time this season, claw their way back into the match.
Rikki Wessels was bowled by a ripping Liam Patterson-White delivery which beat the outside edge and clipped the off stump on the stroke of the second interval, before Luke Fletcher had centurion Jake Libby (117) caught by an alert Tom Moores standing up to the stumps after the break to end an impressive knock.
Patterson-White was back in the wickets an over later to pin Ben Cox leg-before and reduce the visitors to 216 for seven.
Notts were required to toil in the first session but a wonderful spell of pressure brought the initial breakthrough after lunch when Fletcher, who was miserly throughout his 23 overs, snared the wicket of Daryl Mitchell (59), caught by Moores for his first dismissal of the game.
Zak Chappell picked up the wicket of Tom Fell soon after, the right-hander trapped in front trying to turn the ball to the leg side, before Dane Paterson got Nottinghamshire’s third five overs later, inducing an edge from Gareth Roderick through to Moores.
The visitors’ fourth wicket came courtesy of a sharp piece of fielding from Fletcher. Basil D’Oliveira dabbed to the paceman at backwards point and set off for a single, but was unable to make his ground before the stumps at the non-striker’s end had been rattled by an accurate throw.
Ed Barnard (40) and Alzari Joseph (46) steadied the ship for Worcestershire in the evening session, the partnership wrestling back the momentum on a day of mixed fortunes for the Green and Golds.