County Championship: Haseeb Hameed century puts Nottinghamshire on top against Middlesex

Steven Mullaney (left) and Lyndon James shared an unbroken partnership of 151

Division Two leaders Nottinghamshire dominated the opening day of their County Championship meeting with second-placed Middlesex at Trent Bridge.

There was a second century of the summer for Haseeb Hameed, who made 112 against the same opponents at Lord's in May, as Nottinghamshire closed on 378-4.

All-rounder Lyndon James was within reach of his second hundred of 2022 on 90 not out, with skipper Steven Mullaney not far behind with an unbeaten 79.

A pitch with a good covering of grass looked like one that might help the bowlers but Mullaney judged it correctly when he chose to bat on winning the toss.

Luke Hollman, the 21-year-old leg spinner, picked up the wickets of Hameed and Joe Clarke, but Middlesex gave away too many easy runs, while a couple of dropped catches did not help their cause.

Toby Roland-Jones removed Ben Slater via a fine outside edge with the final ball of his opening over as he and Tim Murtagh denied the home side any early momentum.

The Slater wicket enabled Roland-Jones to nudge on to 36 for the season as the leading wicket-taker in the Championship, yet Tom Helm and Martin Andersson proved much easier to get away.

Hameed helped himself to three boundaries in Andersson's second over before Ben Duckett did likewise against Helm, who came back to dismiss Duckett (37) via another edge that John Simpson took in front of first slip, but not until the second-wicket partnership had added 74.

Clarke was quickly into the tempo but the return of Murtagh and Roland-Jones after lunch reined him in. He pulled Hollman to move within a shot of a half-century, only to be caught superbly by Sam Robson at slip as he went to cut the next delivery.

Hameed looked in superb form, completing his hundred by drilling Helm through the covers for his 14th boundary. It had been a near-flawless performance, so it was a surprise to see him depart in the next over, bowled by Hollman making an ugly heave across the line.

Notts would have been 228-5 had a sharp chance to midwicket been held when Mullaney, on one, biffed away a low full toss by the returning Murtagh. It proved to be a costly error as he and James added another 150 by the close.

James confirmed the good impression he made in his first full season by completing his third half-century of the current campaign, pulling Andersson for four to pass that milestone.

Mullaney, potentially on for his best season in red-ball cricket since he topped 1,000 runs for the only time so far in 2016, soon followed, passing 50 for the fifth time when he hit Hollman over mid-off for his fifth boundary.

Middlesex hoped the second new ball might bring a change of fortune on a pitch that had rarely offered their bowlers any encouragement but, when Roland-Jones found the edge of James' bat on 78, Robson failed to hold on.

Report supplied by the ECB Reporters' Network.