[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Day Three

Morning: On a real scorching Saturday, the new ball talked in a relative whisper. Charlie Morris had Luis Reece caught behind for 42 and Ed Barnard saw off Leus du Plooy LBW for 62, but Derbyshire claimed the morning comfortably as they reached lunch on 381-6, leading by 13.

Afternoon: The toil simply continued in the growing heat, though Josh Baker got in on the action with Alex Thomson LBW for 54 and Sam Conners stumped for 16 on the stroke of tea. But it was all too little too late as the hosts went in on 493-8, leading by 125.

Evening: There was time for Anoj Dal to complete a century before Derbyshire declared on 565-8, leading by 197 with eighteen overs remaining in the day. A typically positive start from Ed Pollock was curtailed when Suranga Lakmal bowled him for 23, but Jake Libby and Azhar Ali reached stumps without further incident on 59-1, trailing by 138. The situation isn't as desperate as this time last week, but caution will still be required from the Pears to bat out another final-day draw on Sunday.