Nottinghamshire 229 (Mullaney 76, Palladino 4-44) and 67 for 2 (Patel 82, Mullaney 62 ) lead Derbyshire 363 (Godleman 121, Madsen 56) by 67 runs
Scorecard
Samit Patel has switched the pressure back on Derbyshire © Getty Images
Derbyshire may have outplayed Nottinghamshire for the first two days here but they would have been well aware that expecting it to happen for a third day in a row was probably unrealistic.
The Division Two leaders, 67 behind overnight, are 179 in front going into the last day. Derbyshire might have fancied their chances at the halfway stage but it is not difficult now to imagine a final afternoon in which they are hanging on for a draw.
Not that they would see a draw as failure. When you haven’t won a match for two years an honourable draw can feel like an achievement. Just ask Leicestershire. Had they been offered it at the start…
Derbyshire’s ideal scenario involved chasing a target in the low three figures, at a pinch 160 but no more. That cannot happen now, of course. If Nottinghamshire can stretch their lead beyond 200 – and from this position they should – the pressure will be on Derbyshire. It would not take many early wickets to fall for panic to set in.
The crucial partnership in the Nottinghamshire recovery was the one intact overnight, between Steven Mullaney and Samit Patel, and which survived the full morning session unbroken.
Mullaney, a willing, adaptable cricketer who is doing a decent job as an opener, made his second half-century of the match and though the shot to which he was out was an ugly one, an attempt to slog-sweep leg-spinner Jeevan Mendis that went straight up in the air, it took a brilliant catch by Tom Taylor to make him pay for it. The ball looked to be dropping safely but as it came over his shoulder Taylor, running towards the mid-wicket boundary, dived full length to catch it.
That splendid piece of athleticism ended the partnership at 137. As in the first innings, when the same pair put on 72, the demise of one was followed quickly by the other. Three overs later, Patel was undone by a ball from Conor McKerr that did not bounce as he expected, pinning him in front.
Patel is a lovely batsman to watch but the confidence that comes with being a naturally elegant strokemaker can sometimes tempt him to be too ambitious. But this was a solid, responsible innings in which he was respectful of the state of the game enough to rein himself in, although not so much that could resist pulling Mendis for six a couple of balls before Mullaney was out.
He was disappointed not to make a hundred but having not been past 45 in any of his nine previous first-class innings, 82 is by far his best effort to date in his benefit season.
Nottinghamshire had turned their 134-run deficit on first innings to a 51-run lead by the time he departed.
The legspinner Mendis, who did not find much turn but whose variations in flight and length were clearly difficult to read, dismissed Michael Lumb via a catch at short leg and bowled Riki Wessels with a googly that turned enough.
Yet Wessels added 46 important runs, as did Chris Read, who is unbeaten on that score after rain, which caused three interruptions, prevented any play after 5.25pm, with six overs already lost and 22 more unbowled.
Minutes after the ‘no further play’ announcement, the clouds, as they do, gave way to blue sky but the forecast for the final day is not good, so Derbyshire may have their draw and be spared a nervous finish.
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo