Derbyshire 427 (Madsen 85, Critchley 64, Smit 45 not)
Durham 115-2 (Viljoen 2-15)
Durham trail by 312 runs
An eight till six shift today means that I am happy to be led by you on Derbyshire's efforts on day two of this game.
On the face of it, we are most definitely in the box seat. Neither Wayne Madsen nor Matt Critchley went on to a match-defining score, but there were good knocks from Daryn Smit and Tony Palladino, the former making his highest score for us so far
427 is a score we would gladly have taken at the start of day one and according to Daryn Smit on Twitter tonight, the wicket is starting to do a bit. It will need to, because a positive result will depend on early inroads in the morning, the likelihood being of steady rain from around 3pm.
Otherwise it will be a last day morning slogfest, before Durham are set a notional target on the last afternoon.
The bowling seems at least to have been tidier and Viljoen's excellent figures seem to testify to that. Here's hoping he can run in at his best tomorrow
At least an early finish tomorrow might let me blog before a gig in the evening. Foreigner at the Armadillo in Glasgow, a band I have wanted to see for around 20 years.
Hopefully Derbyshire can make it an even more special day.
I was at Derby yesterday. I arrived just as Madsen was dismissed, a great disappointment. But Critchley was playing very well, hitting many stylish boundaries until he was out to an ugly heave at Collingwood's little dobbers. Smit's batting was a bit like watching paint dry and the innings seemed becalmed until Palladino played a nice cameo, although six successive maidens either side of lunch didn't exactly get the spirits racing. Viljoen had come and gone quickly and neither Olivier nor Rampaul looked as if they were ever going to trouble the scorer. The Durham openers made serene progress in reply and Derbyshire's cause was not helped by Hughes putting down a chance in the slips. A wicket either side of tea for Viljoen hinted at better times for the home side but it was not to be. At the end of the day I was left with the feeling that this was going to be a high scoring draw unless Derbyshire suffered a second innings collapse - always a possibilty unfortunately.
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