Andrea Agathangelou (54) made a half-century on his return to Emirates Old Trafford, but his Leicestershire teammates failed to offer adequate support as the visitors were bowled out for 207 on Day One against the Division Two leaders.
Lancashire's bowlers made the most of the overcast conditions as Kyle Jarvis (3-72) claimed his 50th first-class wicket of the season, while James Faulkner (3-53) became the first Lancashire player to take a hat-trick in 12 years, the first since James Anderson repeated this feat against Essex in 2003.
It was certainly a good toss to lose from Lancashire's point of view, as they reduced Leicestershire to 82/5 in the first session, although only 50 overs were possible on day dominated by drizzle and bad light.
After suffering a top-order collapse, Agathangelou harnessed all of his experience at Lancashire and reached the 14th fifty of his first-class career, sharing an 89-run partnership with Ben Raine before Leicestershire suffered a further collapse, losing their final five wickets for just 42 runs.
All four days of this match are scheduled to start at 12.30 and it was fair to say, in hindsight, that this experimental approach was, as yet, unsuccessful. A delayed start, courtesy of a combination of rain and bad light meant that play did not actually start until 1.10. Had the game started at 11 as usual, there was no doubting that an hour or more would have been possible before conditions became threatening.
Leicestershire started positively despite the dank conditions, with Niall O'Brien hitting Jarvis for three fours in quick succession, but the Irish batsman attempted to play one shot too many - having already scored 14 runs in the over - edging Jarvis behind to Alex Davies at 26/1.
Ned Eckerlsey (2) followed shortly after this early breakthrough, edging a Tom Bailey (4-69) delivery to Paul Horton at first slip, giving the Leicestershire batsman a combined total of 15 runs in his last three innings against Lancashire.
Angus Robson came into this fixture with a promising record; the Leicestershire opener has scored three fifties in his last four innings and he was therefore an important breakthrough for the home side, who were making good progress despite losing the toss.
Jarvis started this match needing three more wickets to reach 50 for the season and he moved closer to this milestone with the wicket of Robson, who was furious to fend at a wider delivery from the Zimbabwean pace bowler, edging to Davies with the score at 47/3.
Wickets at regular intervals halted Leicestershire otherwise steady progress and captain Mark Cosgrove had a point to prove after choosing to bat first in such bowler-friendly conditions. He made 26 before he fell to Bailey, who gave one of his most impressive displays with the ball at Old Trafford, removing Umar Akmal and then the Leicestershire skipper in consecutive overs.
Akmal - making his Leicestershire debut - was one of a number of batsmen to suffer at the hands of the swinging conditions, giving Davies his third catch of the innings when the Pakistan keeper-batsman edged behind off Bailey.
With an even bigger point to prove, Agathangelou came to the crease with his new side in trouble at 75/4, but the Cypriot batsman utilised his knowledge of this ground to his advantage to guide the visitors out of trouble, but not before Cosgrove became the fifth casualty of the session.
The Leicestershire skipper was the third batsman to fall prey to a rampant spell from Bailey as he was trapped plumb lbw, leaving the Midlands outfit in desperate need of a steady partnership and a meaningful contribution with the bat.
Agathangelou was to provide such an innings, adding 89 runs with all-rounder Raine for the sixth-wicket stand, a partnership which proved to be vital to the visitors, who would have otherwise been struggling to reach a remotely respectable total.
The former Lancashire batsman hit ten boundaries on his way to a determined half-century, one which proved to his former employers that he certainly had the potential to deliver important innings under difficult circumstances.
Raine's patience was exactly what was required as he assisted Agathangelou to a fifty partnership in 83 deliveries, a partnership which restored parity to the first day with Leicestershire progressing to 165/5.
Agathangelou reached his first half-centruy for his new club in 56 balls, but he failed to kick on falling 11 balls later to Bailey, who claimed his fourth wicket of the match to stake a claim for his second five-wicket haul of the season.
Having batted incredibly well, Agathangelou got a good delivery which nipped back off the seam, forcing him to edge behind to Davies for 54, a wicket which caused the tail-end to fold amidst the efforts of a fearful Lancashire attack.
The day had so far been dominated by Lancashire's new-ball pairing, but Faulkner claimed three wickets in as many deliveries across two overs to reverse the efforts of Agathangelou and indeed Raine.
The Australian all-rounder - who made his first appearance in four-day cricket for Lancashire at Old Trafford - struck with the final ball of his 12th over to dismiss Raine, who attempted to drive the ball through the covers, only to find Simon Kerrigan at point with a mistimed stroke.
In his next over, Faulkner removed Jigar Naik (9) and then Charlie Shreck for a golden duck, becoming the first Lancashire player since 2003 to claim a hat-trick. Both Naik and Shreck failed to make contact and were trapped on the crease lbw by Faulkner, leaving Leicestershire in a desolate position at 182/9.
Rob Taylor (20*) and Atif Sheikh (5) guided Leicestershire to their first and only batting point of the innings, however unconvincingly, before the latter was the final wicket of the innings. Jarvis exploited the lack of conviction shown by the tail-end batsman, forcing Sheikh to edge behind to Davies, giving the fast bowler his 50th scalp of the season.
Lancashire were fortunate that they did not have to bat in difficult conditions and no further play was possible in the final session, although the Red Rose will not be despondent about the loss of time given their progress on the first day with the ball, particularly after losing the toss.
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