Matt Montgomery hit a chanceless century as Nottinghamshire pushed home their advantage to take a first-innings lead on the second day of their LV= County Championship clash with Essex at Trent Bridge.
The circumspect Montgomery, who was dropped twice early on, ended the day unbeaten on 130* after hitting three figures in 194 balls and proving the evergreen presence in between more fluent knocks from Ben Slater and Joe Clarke, who both made 57.
He was the anchor in stands of 97 with Clarke, 73 with Lyndon James, and 71 with Slater, allowing those around him to play with freedom as the Green and Golds batted through day two to close on 326/5, leading Essex by 28 and with two batting points safely collected.
After Notts resumed on 13 without loss, they recovered from the early dismissal of Haseeb Hameed, as Montgomery and Slater took full advantage of three early dropped catches.
The former fully profited from his good fortune as he was put down off Shane Snater by wicketkeeper Adam Rossington when on zero and four, respectively.
The missteps allowed Montgomery and Slater to post a second-wicket partnership of 71, with the confidence of the former on full display when he reverse-swept Simon Harmer for four in the spinner’s first over.
Having taken the attack to the visiting bowlers early on, including striking a pulled maximum from only the third ball of the day, Slater’s fifty was the first to arrive early in the afternoon, coming off 66 balls with his ninth four.
Sir Alastair Cook was also then left red-faced as he was responsible for the third drop of the day, this time failing to hold on to Slater’s edge off Doug Bracewell at third slip just moments after the left-hander had posted fifty.
As it was, Sam Cook did see him nick behind to Rossington shortly afterwards, but that only served to bring together Montgomery and Clarke, who simply picked up and carried forward the baton.
The former hit his half-century in 116 balls with a single to mid-off, before Clarke took four through third man moments later to see the Green and Golds past 150 and more than halfway to Essex’s first innings total.
Ever the confident stroke-maker, Clarke then reached his own fifty from 89 balls in the most barbarous of ways, lofting Harmer for a colossal maximum back over his head.
Just before tea, he moved the team total to 200 with a single off Matt Critchley, but fell in the penultimate over of the afternoon at the hands of the same bowler as he was caught by Jamie Porter.
Yet again, however, Notts fought back with aplomb, as Montgomery shared another half-century partnership with new man Lyndon James, and it was that stand that saw him post his individual ton.
That was ultimately worth another 73 to the total, seeing the Green and Golds to a first batting bonus point and almost to parity before James was caught behind for 28.
With Montgomery playing some increasingly eye-catching strokes and captain Steven Mullaney looking in a typically bullish mood, that parity did arrive in the late stages of the day, via a quick single from the skipper.
Still only four wickets down, the Green and Golds crept into the lead with eight overs of the day remaining, as a Mullaney four, hit with pure derision, brought up a second batting point.
The fifth-wicket partnership was broken with the second-to-last ball of the day with Mullaney's dismissal for 27, pinned lbw to Bracewell.
However, the story of the day was Montgomery who, having spent a touch over six hours at the crease, remained unbeaten at the end and received warm applause at stumps to brighten a dull evening.
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