Ben Duckett maintained his early-season form with an undefeated century at Lord’s as Nottinghamshire reached 252 for five on the opening day of their LV= Insurance County Championship clash with Middlesex.

The England opener, who recorded scores of 51 and 75 in the first two matches of the summer, topped those performances with a diligent 119 not out before bad light brought play to a premature close.

Having survived an edge off Ethan Bamber when he had yet to score, Duckett capitalised by sharing an opening stand of 117 with Haseeb Hameed, who missed out on the chance of a third consecutive Championship ton at Lord’s.

Bamber, who eventually claimed the scalp of Hameed for 55, was the pick of the Middlesex bowlers with figures of two for 62.

Nottinghamshire exceeded 400 after being put in at Lord’s last year and they immediately began constructing a similar platform following Middlesex’s decision to insert the visitors. 

Despite Bamber beating the bat with a testing opening spell, Duckett and Hameed took full advantage of the short boundary on the grandstand side of the ground, bringing up Nottinghamshire’s 50 within the first hour.

Duckett also employed the paddle shot to good effect as the opening pair continued to make progress, although a tidy pre-lunch spell from Ryan Higgins at the Nursery End slowed the scoring rate.

Hameed was first to reach his half-century, albeit only by a single delivery – the next one, from Martin Andersson, was dispatched over the rope by Duckett to propel him beyond the same landmark.

Middlesex switched Bamber to the Pavilion End, a move that paid dividends just before the interval as Hameed’s edge was taken low by a diving Stephen Eskinazi in the slips.

The afternoon session yielded further wickets for the Seaxes, with Ben Slater run out at the non-striker’s end after the ball ricocheted off Roland Jones’ wrist. 

Matthew Montgomery then made nine before Bamber had him caught behind, with Joe Clarke caught at cover shortly after. 

However, Lyndon James restored the innings to an even keel, punching Andersson off the back foot for two fours and also taking runs from Luke Hollman’s leg-spin while Duckett eased himself into an anchor role.

Following a steady passage through the 90s, the opener turned Hollman around the corner for a single to register his hundred from 152 balls as he and James added 73 for the fifth wicket.

Having struck eight boundaries in his knock of 41, James provided Simpson with his second catch of the day off Andersson. 

Only five overs were bowled in the evening session, with the floodlights already switched on by the time Nottinghamshire secured a batting bonus point and deteriorating overhead conditions forced the teams off soon afterwards.