Lyndon James and Dane Paterson starred amongst the bowling lineup despite difficult circumstances, as Nottinghamshire resumed their LV= County Championship campaign with the challenge of a visit to Surrey.
James, claiming a four-fer, and Paterson bowled 47 overs between them, with Jake Ball and Brett Hutton both forced off mid-way through the day's proceedings.
Notts immediately reaped the rewards of winning the toss and bowling first, with the pads of Rory Burns rapped by Hutton for a duck off the second ball of the match.
Tom Latham joined Dom Sibley in the middle for Surrey, and the pair started to defend following the early Nottinghamshire pressure.
However, Hutton continued to cause trouble and dismissed Sibley for 34 after Tom Moores pouched off the batter's outside edge.
This breakthrough lit the touchpaper for a late charge in the morning session, spearheaded by Lyndon James.
Moores took his second catch in four balls, sprawling to his left to claim a James delivery that clipped off the inside edge of Jamie Smith.
James found the final wicket of the morning session, as the umpire deemed that Latham was trapped lbw for 29 after a vast Nottinghamshire appeal.
Lunch was called following that ball, with Surrey on 70/4.
The afternoon session began slowly after a frantic finish to the morning, with Nottinghamshire continuing to bowl economically.
A fifth wicket would arrive courtesy of Dane Paterson, whose delivery was misjudged by Will Jacks and gratefully taken by Moores.
Jordan Clark joined Ben Foakes in the middle, and the duo worked together to steadily add to the Surrey score.
But the man to shatter the partnership was Paterson, as Foakes clipped the South African’s ball off outside edge. Moores claimed his fourth catch of the day to remove the England international for 46.
Clark continued to add runs after a 66-ball half-century, that he accrued alongside Foakes, eventually reaching his hundred off 133 balls.
The tired Notts side, depleted in their bowling attack with Ball and Hutton both forced off, trudged on and were rewarded for their hard work in the field when Tom Moores plucked centurion Clark out of the air to hand James his third wicket of the opening day.
Like in the morning, one wicket quickly brought a second off the session for James, guided into the palms of Calvin Harrison by Sean Abbott just two runs shy of a half-ton knock.
The workload for the Notts bowlers that remained was evident to all in attendance as Surrey closed the day’s play on 339/8, but with the points very much still all to play for.