Liam Patterson-White’s fifty was the bastion of resistance as Nottinghamshire put up a determined fight in tough conditions against Surrey on day one at the Kia Oval.
Put in on a green pitch and beneath grey cloud cover - with the gloom later giving way to three rain stoppages - the visitors battled their way to 184 all out in the capital.
Olly Stone then struck second ball to remove Dom Sibley as Notts continued to show their character until the very last, with Surrey closing an intriguing first day on 13-1, in arrears by 171.
Patterson-White was by far the Green and Golds’ top-scorer of the day, hitting a highly-creditable 72 not out as he led the recovery effort.
His contribution helped Notts recover from a perilous 14-3, that was then 41-5, as the favourable overheads and surface were exploited by the Brown Caps’ pace attack early on.
Having lost the toss on their return to Championship action for the first time in 59 days, Nottinghamshire were put on the back foot immediately by Dan Worrall and Matthew Fisher.
In difficult surrounds for batting, the Surrey opening pair did for Haseeb Hameed, Ben Slater, and Joe Clarke to require an early fightback from the visitors.
Although Freddie McCann doubled the score alongside Jack Haynes, they too both fell to Tom Lawes inside 20 overs, bringing First-Class debutant Ben Martindale to the crease.
He batted with maturity beyond his experience, remaining unperturbed by a rain delay that arrived only three balls into his maiden red-ball innings.
Martindale helped Kyle Verreynne push the score to 70 - no mean feat in the circumstances - before both were removed with the score yet to reach three figures.
From there, though, it was the Patterson-White show, with the Academy graduate taking charge to repel the hosts with a mixture of stout resistance and counter-attacking panache.
He joined Brett Hutton in adding a vital 56 for the ninth wicket, reaching his own half-century from 70 balls, with nine fours, just a few moments before that.
The last-wicket partnership between Patterson-White and Dillon Pennington also produced a further precious 24, as the visitors took confidence into the final overs with ball in hand.
That then paid off in droves as Stone put one neatly outside Sibley’s off stump, and the former England opener fell for it, with Kyle Verreynne wolfing down the thin edge behind the stumps.
Captain Rory Burns and nightwatcher Fisher saw out the remainder of the day, though the visitors will retain plenty of heart from their fight with the bat and early inroad with the ball.