Steven Mullaney’s second century of the week put Nottinghamshire in command on the opening day of their Specsavers County Championship match against Surrey at Trent Bridge. The opener, who scored 139 against Cambridge MCCU on Tuesday, continued his impressive start to the new campaign by making 113, scoring his runs from 114 deliveries, with 18 fours, as the home side made 446 before being bowled out late in the day.

Rory Burns and Arun Harinath reached the close together on seven without loss from the two overs they had to face. Despite a greenish tinge to the wicket, bat dominated the ball and Samit Patel, with 85, Riki Wessels, with 81 and Chris Read, who made an unbeaten 63 all added to Surrey’s woes, despite Ravi Rampaul taking five for 93 on his debut for the county.

Mullaney was quickly out of the blocks, hitting a four and a three from Tom Curran’s opening two deliveries and the extra pace of Mark Footitt was certainly to his liking, 18 coming from the sixth over of the day. When on 92, a shy from Sam Curran at cover was Mullaney’s only real moment of concern but that was quickly forgotten as a drive through the off side took the 29 year old to his ninth career century. The milestone was greeted with a guttural roar of delight, an arm wave and a fist pump, as the century-maker showed what it meant to register the first hundred of the championship season.

Ravi Rampaul, appearing in first class cricket for the first time in over three years, looked a little under-cooked but ran in purposefully all day and deservedly picked up his five wicket haul. He claimed two of the key wickets, finding the inside-edge of Mullaney’s bat before a more orthodox edge accounted for Riki Wessels. Wessels’ innings was dominated by the crispness of his drives but a mighty leg side six off Tom Curran will stay in the memory. Tom Curran had a decent day, nevertheless, claiming two of the first three wickets to fall, with both Greg Smith and Brendan Taylor nicking into the hands of Kumar Sangakkara at first slip.

Smith, included in the starting line-up in place of the unwell James Taylor, averaged only 10 in his first season with Notts and missed out again, making just nine before becoming Tom Curran’s 100th first class victim. Former Nottinghamshire bowler Mark Footitt trapped Michael Lumb lbw for 24 before lunch and demolished Brett Hutton’s stumps later on but it was left to Rampaul to polish off the innings by removing Jake Ball, Jackson Bird and Harry Gurney in quick succession; the latter two off consecutive deliveries.

STEVEN MULLANEY (Notts): "It was nice to get off and running from the first ball of the day, it calmed a few nerves. I’ve felt in good nick for most of pre-season and we’ve talked about people who are in nick cashing in, I did that to a certain extent but am disappointed not to go and get a really big one. I suspected we’d be batting first but we spoke about it and if there was a toss we were going to bat first. We think it’s a decent wicket but enough it for the bowlers."

ALEC STEWART (Surrey's director of cricket): "Obviously we’re pleased to bowl Notts out in the day, having asked them to bat first but they got too many runs on that wicket. The first two sessions we were disappointing and the bowlers have to put their hands up and say they didn’t bowl to the consistent high levels we’d expect from them. Credit to Notts, they put the bad balls away for fours and Mullaney played nicely but we fed him some easy runs. Ravi Rampaul bowled some good balls and to get five wickets on debut is a good effort. Some people have been questioning him, well they can keep on questioning him if he keeps getting five wicket hauls."

TEA REPORT

Steven Mullaney registered the first century of the new Specsavers County Championship season on the opening day of their match with Surrey at Trent Bridge. The opener, who also reached three figures in last week’s fixture against Cambridge MCCU, made 113 from 114 deliveries, with 18 fours, as Notts reached tea on 315 for five. Mullaney’s fine start to the season began from the very first ball of the day, which he stroked through the covers for four and, apart from a run out opportunity when he was on 92, it was a chanceless knock until he nicked an inside edge through to wicketkeeper Ben Foakes.

Ravi Rampaul, on his Surrey debut, took Mullaney’s wicket and followed it up with the other main contributor. Riki Wessels hit a fluent 81 from 83 deliveries, an innings that featured 14 fours and a huge pull for six, before he was also taken by Foakes. The visitor’s only other success on the first afternoon was the dismissal of Brendan Taylor, caught at slip off Tom Curran, for 20. Samit Patel maintained the healthy run-rate by racing to an unbeaten 38 and Chris Read was on five at tea.

LUNCH REPORT

Nottinghamshire scored 119 for two on the first morning of their Specsavers County Championship match against Surrey at Trent Bridge. Invited to bat first, the home side were quickly out of the blocks with Steven Mullaney hitting a four and a three from Tom Curran’s opening two deliveries. The extra pace of Mark Footitt met with the approval of the batting side, with Steven Mullaney taking 18 from his third over. With 43 on the board Surrey made their initial breakthrough, with Greg Smith nicking through to Kumar Sangakkara at first slip for nine, giving Tom Curran his 100th first class wicket. Footitt’s second spell brought him the wicket of Michael Lumb, trapped lbw for 24. Mullaney reached his fifty from just 49 balls and by lunch had advanced his score to 71 not out, with Brendan Taylor unbeaten on six.

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