Wickets were shared around the Nottinghamshire seam attack as the Green and Golds hit the front foot on the first day of their LV= County Championship Division One clash with Essex at Trent Bridge.

Sir Alastair Cook made a half-century just after lunch, but Brett Hutton claimed four wickets as, alongside Stuart Broad and Dane Paterson, the hosts fought back throughout the afternoon.

Renewed resistance after the tea break offered the visitors a way back into the contest, though Notts reasserted their dominance to end in the ascendancy, as Essex were eventually dismissed for 298.

Haseeb Hameed (9*) and Ben Slater (4*) confidently repelled the day’s final three overs to see the hosts close on 13 without loss.

Having won the toss and opted to insert the visitors, Steven Mullaney’s men struck early as the returning Stuart Broad rapped Nick Browne’s front pad to remove the opener for 11.

However, the home attack was then repelled for a large chunk of the day, as Sir Alastair Cook and Tom Westley added 135 for the second wicket.

Their partnership was a little over halfway through when lunch arrived, worth an unbroken 70 as, despite their best efforts, the home attack was blunted in early-afternoon sunshine.

Following the first break, Cook continued to lead the way, hitting 50 in 89 balls and eventually amassing 72, but his dismissal, caught by a diving Harrison at second slip off Paterson, sparked a visiting collapse.

The duo of Paterson and Hutton wrought the havoc that saw Essex fall from 151/1 to 195/5, as, following his removal of Cook, the former then saw Westley bottom-edge into his stumps for 66.

Not to be outshone, the in-form Hutton then collected his first scalp, catching Dan Lawrence in two minds to take the outside edge and see wicketkeeper Joe Clarke complete the formalities.

He followed it up shortly afterwards, seeing Matt Critchley fall in near-identical fashion to another Clarke catch, as Essex found themselves wobbling at the end of the afternoon.

However, the visitors displayed the same levels of resistance either side of the tea break to which they had demonstrated around lunch, as Simon Harmer and Adam Rossington put on a stubborn stand.

The former in particular proved a difficult opponent as he hit a plucky 46, though he was finally pinned in front by Broad just five deliveries after taking the new ball to stop the sixth-wicket stand at 75.

With that new cherry in hand, Hutton then picked up a third as he also removed Rossington lbw for 35, before Broad did further damage as Shane Snater was pouched by Matt Montgomery at third slip.

Snater’s dismissal marked the second wicket in as many overs, and the late dominance shown by Notts continued to be on show as Hutton made it four by bowling Doug Bracewell.

It fell to Paterson to wrap up the innings, seeing off last man Jamie Porter via another Montgomery reaction grab in the slips, securing a maximum bowling-point haul and setting up Hameed and Slater to see out the final overs.

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