Jennings leads the way for Lancashire as Notts hits back with a new ball

Dillon Pennington was Nottinghamshire's standout performer as Lancashire were denied the prosperity they had hoped for when they opted to bat on the opening day of their Vitality County Championship match at Trent Bridge.

Skipper Keaton Jennings made 91 and overseas batsman Tom Bruce 73, but Lancashire let a good position slip as they slumped from 190 for 2 to 306 for 8.

Pennington inflicted heavy damage, taking 3 for 15 in an excellent five-over spell with the second new ball, before seamer Dane Paterson dealt Lancashire another blow by removing Bruce in the penultimate over of the day.

With Australian spinner Nathan Lyon rested for the match, Lancashire handed England pace bowler Saqib Mahmood his first start in 12 months following a stress fracture.

It had looked like a Lancashire day until the final half-hour of the middle session when Jennings and George Balderson, who had shared a third-wicket stand of 107, were out in quick succession.

The morning session had been theirs until Josh Bohannon was dismissed by Lyndon James off the penultimate ball before lunch. Bohannon had hit four boundaries off the Nottinghamshire all-rounder, one of them an edge, but was struck on the front pad while looking for a fifth through the on-side and was clearly out.

Although pace bowlers Pennington and the fit-again Olly Stone made Lancashire's openers work hard on a well-worn pitch with a decent grass cover, Nottinghamshire's only breakthrough came in the 10th over when Paterson edged to Luke Wells at second slip.

​​Buoyed by James' breakthrough, which ended a threatening partnership between the aggressive Bohannon and the more measured Jennings, Nottinghamshire emerged from lunch with renewed vigour. But it was Lancashire's third wicket pair who dominated for the next few hours.

Jennings, who had painstakingly built up a 128-ball half-century which he completed with his 10th boundary, upped the tempo. A paddle sweep for four and a beautifully driven straight six off Calvin Harrison's legspin signalled a growing confidence and he looked on course for a second hundred of the season.

But Nottinghamshire's bowlers never wavered and fought back in the half-hour before tea.

Jennings will take the blame for his own demise, going for a reverse sweep off Harrison but only managing to top-edge it to slip where Tom Moores - back in the Nottinghamshire side for the first time this season but unable to wrest the wicketkeeper's gloves from Joe Clarke - took an easy catch.

But Balderson's departure was down to the skill of the bowler, and Stone's impressive contribution was deservedly rewarded when the batsman was beaten for pace as he tried to flick across the line, the ball hitting the front pad directly in front. The two wickets turned 190 for 2 into 196 for 4.

Lancashire's double setback meant two new batsmen at the crease, but after Bruce had taken the lead with a 69-ball half-century, it took the second new ball for Nottinghamshire to restore a measure of parity on the day, Pennington striking twice in the space of nine deliveries as George Bell edged to first slip and Matthew Hurst to third.

The former Worcestershire fast bowler claimed his third scalp when England spinner Tom Hartley had Harrison caught at second slip, with Bruce noticeably more restrained. Lancashire got a second batting point but the loss of Bruce, leg before to Paterson, was another blow.

Before play began, players and spectators observed a minute's silence in memory of Worcestershire spin bowler Josh Baker, who died last week aged just 20. Baker had represented his county against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge just last month.

For Pennington and Jack Haynes, who now wear Nottinghamshire colours but shared a dressing room with Baker at New Road before switching counties at the end of last season, it was a particularly poignant moment.