Notts prosper after losing toss and being forced to bat – Middlesex v Nottinghamshire Day 1 Roundup

Notts 329-5 (93 overs)

Middlesex won the toss and elected to bowl, and it looked a dubious decision at the time in decent sunshine and with a short boundary on the grandstand side and proved to be a puzzling call come the end of play.

Nottinghamshire withstood the early loss of Ben Slater to dominate the opening session of the first day’s play at Lords. Slater scored the first six runs and was then caught behind by Simpson to give Murtagh his only wicket of the day. That was the home side’s last success of the morning session.

Habeeb Hameed and Ben Duckett plundered fours and batted carefully when required to reach triple figures before lunch. Duckett finally left on 43 providing Simpson with his second catch and Ethan Bamber with his first wicket.

Middlesex managed their most successful period shortly after, Joe Clarke went for a duck and Lyndon James for 21. Clarke played his seventh ball onto the stumps and James provided Simpson with his third catch.

In came veteran right-hander and captain Steve Mullaney and his contribution solidified Notts hold on the game. He added 117 with Hameed and an unbroken 62 with Tom Moores.

By the time the new ball was taken, 300 was surpassed. The shiny new red one however did not change the trajectory of the final session. Mullaney stayed watchful after reaching 92, ending the day eight short of an excellent century.

329-5 was a superb effort given that they had lost the toss and been forced to bat, and puts the visitors in a commanding position heading into day two.

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