Wickets from Kyle Jarvis (4-74) and Neil Wagner (3-70) ensured that Lancashire and Yorkshire contested an entertaining and even first day at Headingley, with the hosts closing on 301/9.
Lancashire rattled through Yorkshire's top order, reducing the White Rose to 29/4 inside the first hour of the day after refusing to toss, but a mammoth partnership between Adil Rashid (88) and Tim Bresnan (69) restored balance to the match, as they added 136 runs for the sixth wicket.
Jarvis had figures of 3-12 after removing Alex Lees and Gary Ballance without scoring, while Wagner had to work hard for his wickets, exercising a great deal of short bowling to frustrate the home fans for long periods. After regaining control in the evening session with a 75-run stand between Andrew Hodd and Steven Patterson (41*), Wagner collected a wicket with the final ball of the day, removing Hodd for 40 after a superb catch by Liam Livingstone.
Tom Bailey (1-48) struck with the fourth ball of the day when he had Adam Lyth (4) caught behind by Steven Croft - standing in for Alex Davies - who was not fit to play in the Roses match due a knee injury sustained on Friday in the Twenty20 match against Durham.
Both of Yorkshire's opening batsmen were back in the pavilion in the space of nine deliveries, as Jarvis had Lees caught by a juggling catch from Karl Brown at third slip and the Zimbabwean paceman struck again in his third over to account for Ballance, who edged to Tom Smith at second slip, leaving Yorkshire on 14/3.
Jarvis, who claimed career-best match figures of 11-119 in Lancashire's innings victory over Surrey last week, then added his third breakthrough when he had Jack Leaning caught by Smith for 10 at the end of the 12th over. After adding 45 runs for the fourth wicket with Rashid, skipper Andrew Gale (36) was hit on the foot and trapped plumb lbw by Wagner at 74/5.
Rashid and Bresnan guided Yorkshire to lunch without losing any more wickets and their partnership frustrated the visitors, who failed to claim a wicket throughout the entire afternoon session. The pair added the first 50 runs of their 136-run partnership in 99 balls, with Rashid reaching his 35th first-class fifty in 86 deliveries.
The partnership between Rashid and Bresnan continued to build as the afternoon session progressed, with Lancashire struggling to extract any noticeable assistance from the wicket, as the older ball became ineffective. They were also hampered by the fact that Jarvis left the field temporarily with a shoulder problem, leaving them short of a frontline seamer.
After scoring 157 against Lancashire at Old Trafford the last time the two teams met in 2014, Rashid was eyeing back-to-back centuries against the Red Rose county, with the England leg-spinner bringing up the hundred-partnership with Bresnan in 175 balls. Bresnan replicated Rashid by reaching his half-century at a marginally slower pace of 113 deliveries, hitting eight boundaries in the process.
Yorkshire reached their first batting point on the stroke of tea, entering the interval on 201/5, with Rashid and Bresnan's partnership worth 127 runs. Tea came at a good time for Lancashire, who enjoyed two breakthroughs in quick succession after the break, as Simon Kerrigan (1-49) forced Rashid to offer Luke Procter a simple catch at short cover, a tame ending to an otherwise chanceless innings.
Procter was in action again in the next over when he held on to a catch at mid-on off Jarvis, who had his fourth wicket when Liam Plunkett (3) fell at 215/7. Lancashire were once again in control of the game with these two quick wickets and Wagner made it 226/8 when Bresnan edged behind to Croft for 69.
Given the strong position Lancashire found themselves in with this wicket, the close of play scoreboard reflected a much more even day, with Hodd and Patterson adding 75 runs for the ninth wicket to restore parity to the match. The duo played eye-catching strokes to renew the confidence of the home crowd, who spent much of the day jeering at Wagner for bowling short, an approach that allowed Lancashire to stem the flow of runs, as pitching the ball up often resulted in easy runs for the Yorkshire tail.
The fifty-partnership arrived after 74 balls with boundaries arriving at regular intervals during a sun-drenched evening session. Yorkshire were preparing to reach close of play in the ascendancy, but Wagner continued to plug away with an aggressive approach and claimed a wicket with the second ball of the final over to remove Hodd for 40.
Hodd, who received his county cap before the start of play, attempted to help a delivery from Wagner down to fine leg, but Livingstone held on to a terrific diving catch fielding at leg-slip, sending Lancashire into the dressing room in good spirits after two substantial and frustrating partnerships.
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