BY no means could it be said that Derbyshire have control but they are in a position to dictate terms going into the final day of a fascinating LV County Championship match at Chesterfield.
They ended day three at Queen's Park on 237-5, putting them ahead of Essex by 235. While Essex would not want to have to chase too many more than that, this can be such a fast-scoring ground and they have so many players who could exploit it.
That is the dilemma but Derbyshire had another good day yesterday, based around a four-wicket burst from Tony Palladino and followed by half-centuries from Ben Slater, Wayne Madsen and Shivnarine Chanderpaul.
Palladino finished off his former county with a spell of 4-14 in 45 balls to restrict them to a lead of two runs. Though Derbyshire went into the morning ahead by 73 and hopeful of preserving at least a portion of that, getting through the last five Essex wickets for 75 was very acceptable.
Essex added 39 to their overnight 202-5 before Palladino broke through with the new ball, Greg Smith bottom-edging a cut through to wicketkeeper Gareth Cross for 32.
Tom Taylor, who finished with an impressive 3-62 from 20 overs, had Graham Napier lbw before Palladino did the rest, quickly polishing off Tim Phillips, Tom Moore and Reece Topley.
He had bowled well up the hill the previous day, without reward, but 4-65 was a just reflection of his efforts in 33 overs – only the sixth time in his career he has bowled more than 30 in an innings.
But no-one could get past the defences of Nick Browne, who was 132 not out, a maiden century, in an innings of a minute short of seven hours long. It is only the 14th time an Essex batsman has carried his bat and Browne is the first since John Stephenson in 1992.
This was an immaculate innings from the 23-year-old, playing only his seventh Championship match.
And so the second innings began with next to nothing to separate the sides but that left no room for forgiveness if either team had a bad session and Derbyshire's did not start well, as Paul Borrington was lbw to his first ball, the sixth of the innings.
Derbyshire were still in debit then, at 1-1, but Madsen and Slater turned that into a good position with a stand of 125 that ended most unfortunately in the last over before tea.
As Slater set off for a second run to deep point, he slipped and by the time Madsen realised, he was halfway down the wicket. Sadly for him, the throw from the deep was good and the skipper went for 59.
It was his second half-century of the match, made off 105 balls with eight fours.
Slater could not be blamed at all but the opportunity remained for him to move on and make a really big score. However, he edged a pull at a Tim Phillips ball on to his pads and wicketkeeper James Foster dived forward for the catch.
There would have been no better occasion for Slater to have played his first really major Championship innings than on his home ground but that big score remains just around the next bend. His very fine 60, off 133 balls with eight fours, suggests it is that close.
When 135-3 became 182-5, with Alex Hughes and Cross back in the pavilion and no-one really sure whether Wes Durston would be able to bat or not, Derbyshire could still have lost their grip but Chanderpaul was looking very solid and passed 50 for the fifth time in first-class matches for the county this season off 76 balls with six fours.
In David Wainwright, he found a valuable ally for a partnership worth 55 so far.
It was very important they were still together at the close and Wainwright, on 30 not out, did his job alongside the West Indian, who is on 62.
Ideally, they will take Derbyshire to a position where they can set Essex a target in the morning.
meklid@derbytelegraph.co.uk
