Derbyshire v Durham day 2

Derbyshire 306

Durham 222-9 (Jones 87, Conners 3-54, Aitchison 2-49, Dal 2-18)

Derbyshire lead by 84 runs

While they were not at their best with the ball or in the field, Derbyshire played themselves into the ascendancy in the game against Durham today. The visitors were 222-9 at the close, having subsided badly in the final hour.

They started well enough with Michael Jones willing to play his shots and Derbyshire's. bowlers erring too often in line and length.

A notable exception was Ben Aitchison, who bowled with metronomic accuracy throughout and on another day might easily have picked up a five wicket haul. It is more of a surprise when he bowls a bad ball these days, so impressive has he been since his return from injury.

I lost count of the number of times the ball fell short of or went through the slip cordon today. I wasn't sure if they were too deep, or if the wicket was a little two-paced. A chance or two went down but in the end the bowlers worked well as a pack and despite their relative inexperience did a very good job.

Sam Conners came back well in his final spell after being expensive early on. He also held a smart catch at point and it is very impressive how all of these young bowlers are outstanding in the field. Nick Potts later effected an excellent run out and although prone to bowling the occasional bad ball - inevitable given his age - he looks a player of real potential.

Meanwhile Anuj Dal did what he has done all season, nibbling away on a length and keeping the batsmen on their toes in another lovely display of seam bowling.

84 runs ahead and two days to go. If the weather is kind to us then we have an opportunity here to force an unlikely but very welcome win. The wicket has been perfect and for me the best one at county headquarters this season. Batsmen have been able to score runs and Jones did an excellent job for Durham today, but there has been reward to be had for the bowlers who combined length and line to good effect.

Thankfully the Durham side did not include Ned Eckersley, who has been a perennial thorn in Derbyshire sides for much of his career. Their tail looked long and if Derbyshire can set them 300 plus in the final innings it could prove a challenge.

One interesting side note to the days play was Australian batsman Nick Maddinson falling foul of the umpires in regards to the width of his bat. He had to change it and the case will be referred to the ECB, as Mattie McKiernan's was a few weeks back.

There will likely be a hefty penalty for this, given that Derbyshire lost two points for that earlier offence.

Rain looks likely tomorrow afternoon, but if we can take that last week quickly and score at a reasonable rate then the scene would appear to be set for an excellent final day.