County Championship: Luke Fletcher takes career-best 6-24 as Nottinghamshire skittle Essex
- Published
Tom Westley was the first of Luke Fletcher's six wickets as he had his off stump knocked out the ground
LV= County Championship Group One, Trent Bridge, Nottingham (day one): |
Essex 99: Browne 53; Fletcher 6-24, James 2-3, Broad 2-31 |
Nottinghamshire 188-4: Mullaney 63*, Hameed 49; Snater 3-54 |
Nottinghamshire (3 pts) lead Essex (1 pt) by 89 runs |
Nottinghamshire dominated the first day against Essex thanks to career-best bowling figures from Luke Fletcher and Steven Mullaney's half-century.
Fletcher took 6-24 as Essex were bowled out for just 99 following a lower-order collapse after lunch.
Nottinghamshire then reached stumps at 188-4 in reply, a lead of 89 runs.
Haseeb Hameed (49) made a promising start before skipper Mullaney (63 not out) and Lyndon James (42 not out) added 105 for the fifth wicket.
Not for the first time this season, champions Essex were dismissed for double figures in their first innings having also been bowled out for just 96 against Durham last month.
They lost six wickets for just 28 runs after lunch including the last four without adding a run.
At one stage, Fletcher found himself on a hat-trick when he removed top-scorer Nick Browne (53), Shane Snater and Peter Siddle in the space of five balls.
Stuart Broad (2-31) and James (2-3) also took two wickets apiece, Broad getting things going by removing former England team-mate Alastair Cook for three for the first wicket of the day.
Essex looked in the contest when Hameed departed a run shy of a half-century at 83-4. But Mullaney and James took the game away from the visitors in the last 90 minutes as runs began to flow more freely.
Snater was the pick of Essex's bowlers with 3-54 but they have it all to do if they are to stand any realistic chance of getting back into the game.