Middlesex v Derbyshire day 3

Middlesex 177 and 278-8 (du Plooy 95, Falconer 48, Aitchison 3-53, Haydon 2-58)

Derbyshire 376

Middlesex lead by 79 runs 

There didn't appear to be as much in the pitch today at Lord's. 

The swing and lateral movement that highlighted the first two days was still there, but it was less pronounced and batting appeared easier than it had been on the first two days. 

Derbyshire made good inroads and had three wickets down, before Leus du Plooy and the impressive Caleb Falconer shared in a fourth wicket stand of 107 to hold them up. 

The bowling continued to be impressive, but du Plooy always seemed likely to make Derbyshire pay for his first innings failure and he batted very well here, looking in little trouble. We know him well, of course and in this form he is a hard man to dismiss. 

Falconer, who has starred in English age group cricket, looked like a young man worth keeping an eye on as they quickly caught up with the Derbyshire lead. 

Perhaps a lot of supporters were expecting a walk in the park today, but cricket has a habit of delivering the unexpected, which is why it is the greatest of sports. At tea, Derbyshire looked like facing a potentially tricky run chase on the last day. 

Aitchison and Haydon again bowled well, as did Bashir, but the home side realised they had to keep them at bay and wait for the changes. Potts and Andersson gave their all, but it wasn't there for them today.

At least until du Plooy drove uppishly at Andersson and was brilliantly caught by Bashir at extra cover, diving to his left. He had looked in little trouble and deserved a century, his slow trudge to the pavilion telling a tale. 

In the next over, Potts had Falconer driving at a wide one, which moved away enough to take the edge through to Guest. Middlesex were five down and still eight runs behind. Higgins and Duke took them ahead and shared an important partnership, before the introduction of Montgomery saw him bowl Higgins, pulling a ball that kept low, with three overs until the second new ball. 

When Gohar slashed recklessly at Aitchison and then Bosch was leg before to Haydon, Derbyshire might have hoped to finish things off tonight, but bad light and rain brought an early end to proceedings

I won't see the final day's play, because we are away on holiday again tomorrow and won't be home until Friday. As usual, I will create a page for your comments on that. 

Hopefully the weather is kind, Derbyshire can wrap things up quickly and then handle the run chase professionally.