Worcestershire suffered an early setback after the toss had been uncontested when the out of form Brett D’Oliveira was bowled for a duck in Tom Milnes’ first over without a run on the board.
Tom Fell looked in prime form and reeled off a succession of impressive boundaries.
He raced onto 24 with six fours but then became Milnes second victim when Alex Hughes held onto a sharp chance at third slip.
Mitchell was joined at 36-2 by Clarke and the third wicket pair slowly but surely repaired the early damage.
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A handsome cover drive for four off Will Davis by Mitchell brought up the 50 stand in 15 overs.
By lunch Mitchell had moved onto 47 and Clarke 20 out of 97-2 from 31 overs.