Cricket is cruel and some things, it seems, are fated. Needing 36 runs from 14 overs with six wickets standing — and a first championship victory in 26 attempts all but secure in their grasp — Derbyshire were halted by bad light at 5.35pm. A resumption proved possible, 20 minutes later, but allowed only seven more deliveries before the players went off for the final time.
Victory — which would have been Derbyshire’s first since July 20, 2015 — seemed a remote hope when play startedafter lunch, with 63 overs remaining and the home side already 179 ahead.
But the pace of Tom Taylor, striking first in the third over, brought him three wickets in 12 balls and when Harry Gurney, the last man, cut Jeevan Mendis’s long hop to point, the Nottinghamshire innings had ended in just 45 minutes, with Chris Read stranded on 74 from 86 balls.
The pitch, under heavy cloud after rain, remained demanding as Derbyshire pursued 216 at 4.60 per over, losing both openers either side of tea. Luis Reece drove Luke Fletcher’s slower ball to mid-off for 14 and Billy Godleman went to a beauty from Luke Wood for 22.
But Wayne Madsen had hit six of his previous 13 balls for four by the time Shiv Thakor gloved an attempted hook for 25 and the former captain’s six took him past 50 from 47 balls. He surged on to 61 before slicing to backward point.
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With 75 needed, Derbyshire were now racing against the weather more than the attack. The elements duly prevailed. Alex Hughes fell, also slogging, in the brief resumption but only minutes, as it proved, remained. It was a dismal journey back to Derby.