Jordan Thompson’s stunning career best 98 was the feature of Yorkshire’s recovery from 44-4 to 264 all out during the opening day against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge.
The all-rounder, 23, impressed with five wickets in last weekend’s opening round Bob Willis Trophy win over Durham at Emirates Riverside and led today’s revival alongside another in-form young gun Harry Brook, who made 62.
Thompson was watchful early on before cutting loose as lower order partners came and went, hitting eleven fours in 103 balls.
He also plundered two leg-side sixes apiece off Samit Patel and Jake Ball, with one Patel over costing 20 as he moved Yorkshire to 252-9 and a second batting bonus point.
Notts then had half an hour’s batting to do before close and reached on 13-1 from 7.3 overs, with Chris Nash bowled by Steve Patterson in the day’s last over.
After winning the toss on a used pitch, Yorkshire lost Adam Lyth, Jonny Bairstow and Dawid Malan to single-figure scores and Tom Kohler-Cadmore for 21.
Thankfully, Brook and Thompson – both heroes at Durham – were aided by Jonny Tattersall’s useful 31.
On his return from England duty, Bairstow, who has taken the wicketkeeping gloves, made five from 22 balls batting at number three.
It was an innings ended when he fiercely cut new ball quick Zak Chappell to Patel at backward point.
Chappell also had Malan caught behind for nine after Jake Ball had made the initial breakthrough by trapping Lyth with an in-swinger 15 balls into the contest.
Three spinners bowled 50.2 of the 81.2 overs in Yorkshire’s innings after the hosts decided to use the same surface they lost against Derbyshire on in round one.
Part-time offie Nash claimed 3-20 from 6.2 overs.
He bowled Brook through the gate with his first ball – in the final over before tea – and later had Thompson caught at slip off a cue-end as he tried to smash a fifth six.
That dismissal brought an end to Yorkshire’s innings.
Back to the morning session, and frontline off-spinner Matt Carter claimed the fourth Yorkshire wicket when Kohler-Cadmore gloved an attempted sweep which ballooned up for Steven Mullaney to take as he ran around behind wicketkeeper Tom Moores from slip.
That left Yorkshire at 44-4 in the 20th over before the recovery kicked into gear.
Former England under 19s captain Brook hit 41 and 66 not out in last weekend’s win at Durham and shared 92 for the fifth wicket with Tattersall either side of lunch here.
Brook was particularly imposing and eye-catching in the opening 15 minutes of the afternoon when he took a liking to Chappell and hit six boundaries in that period.
He later reached an 88-ball fifty before shimmying down the pitch and launching Patel’s left-arm spin over long-on for six into the pavilion seats.
Prior to that, Tattersall had been trapped lbw – sweeping – by Patel as Yorkshire fell to 136-5 in the 50th over.
Brook then fell to Nash as Yorkshire 176-6 in the 63rd before Thompson took on the lead role.
He was initially more understated than Brook, but that did not last long.
He dominated a 42-run stand with captain Patterson for the seventh wicket, bringing up a 70-ball fifty in the process.
Patterson was then caught at first slip off Nash before Duanne Olivier and Jack Shutt were both trapped lbw by Patel and Carter, leaving Yorkshire at 232-9 in the 77th over.
Then Thompson cut loose in a thrilling display of power hitting which peppered the empty seats in the Bridgford Road Stand.
He took that 20 off Patel in one over from the Pavilion End and smashed Ball for two more sixes in the same direction, sharing 32 for the last wicket with debutant seamer Dom Leech, who did not score.
This was his highest score in only his fourth first-class match, though he did score 50 in a Vitality Blast defeat against Derbyshire at Chesterfield last year.
Nash played on to what proved to be the day’s last ball, leaving Haseeb Hameed unbeaten on four.