Nottinghamshire 324 and 84-3
Derbyshire 239 (du Plooy 130)
Nottinghamshire lead by 169 runs
Honourable exception can be made for Matt Critchley, who batted well before lunch for 45, before inexplicably going for a quick single first ball afterwards. It was his call, but unnecessary at that juncture and he failed to make it back when du Plooy declined the single.
Earlier Reece got a good one, Godleman didn't seem to think he hit one and Madsen played loosely to see three quick wickets fall in the first half hour, all of them to Jake Ball. Thereafter, du Plooy and Critchley batted with common sense and skill to take us to lunch at 114-3.
The decline to 159-9 was painful to watch, last night's assertion on here that we were a batsman light proving correct. They all seemed to be batting a place too high and the game appeared to be gone.
Then came Conners, looking a more solid bat than Cohen and Aitchison, who preceded him. Assaying no shots, he made 5 from 55 balls as he and du Plooy added 80 for the last wicket, a new record against Nottinghamshire. I was there when Alan Ward and Harold Rhodes set the previous record, at Ilkeston in 1969, but neither played shots like du Plooy!
Switching from four-day to one-day mode, he shrugged off a couple of painful blows to score all around the ground. The boundaries flowed, even with nine fielders around it, as he reached his century with a six and clumped two more before he was eventually dismissed. We are very lucky to have a player of such talent and it was heartening to see him pumping the badge on his chest as he reached his century.
We were still 85 behind when the innings ended to a fine catch by Evison, who bowled well, but that was a long way from the 165 behind when they came together.
After tea the home side extended their lead to 169, despite a fine spell of 3-19 by Conners, who had a memorable day. Aitchison also bowled more accurately than in the first innings and the two appear to be fine prospects.
Nottinghamshire on top at the close, but a big first session ahead tomorrow.
This is, not for the first time, a see saw game. Leus du Plooy, as Dave Fletcher remarked, can go through the gears: cautious, just gathering singles, and then can explode, as we saw today. And what a superb innings by Sam Connors, suggesting that perhaps he should bat higher than at 11.
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