An unbeaten half-century from Haseeb Hameed saw Nottinghamshire fight back to close on 99-0 in their LV= Insurance County Championship encounter against Worcestershire at New Road.
After home captain Joe Leach had struck 84 in Worcestershire’s 436 all out, Hameed and fellow opener Ben Slater, who made an unbeaten 40, continued the theme of dominance of bat over ball in a relatively untroubled stand from the day’s final 44 overs.
Alzarri Joseph (61) and Ed Barnard started the day by extending their eighth wicket partnership to 114 after Worcestershire resumed on 305-7, before the former lobbed a gentle catch to Joe Clarke at short mid-on off Zak Chappell.
Barnard dug in for a 125-ball fifty, before he went back to cut Liam Patterson-White and was caught behind by Tom Moores on 58.
Leach and last man Charlie Morris frustrated the visitors with a stand of 81 in 34.4 overs, as Chappell, Dane Paterson, Lyndon James and Steven Mullaney laboured.
However, when Leach became Patterson-White’s fourth victim of the innings after he was caught at first slip by Mullaney, a Green and Gold fightback began in earnest.
Slater and Hameed experienced few alarms against the new ball attack of Leach and Morris and looked determined to build the same sort of solid base as Worcestershire openers Jake Libby and Daryl Mitchell.
Hameed completed his 136-ball fifty in the final over, as there was no opportunity for Joseph, Leach, or Morris to make inroads throughout the evening.
Slater was initially the quieter partner, as Hameed raced into double figures, but the latter’s watchful tactics against the off-spin of Mitchell and Libby saw the pair close just eleven runs apart.
The Green and Golds will resume tomorrow full of hope that they can pile on the runs in the same fashion as their hosts on a lifeless surface.
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Tickets to witness Notts Outlaws’ defence of their Vitality Blast title in 2021 are now on general sale.
