Day 1
Leicestershire 415/3 (96.0 ov)
Derbyshire
Mark Cosgrove made Derbyshire pay a high price for dropping him by scoring yet another hundred at Derby as Leicestershire powered to maximum batting points on the opening day of the Division Two County Championship match against Derbyshire.
After he was missed on 8, the Leicestershire skipper dominated the bowling to finish the day on 137, sharing a third-wicket stand of 175 with Colin Ackermann who made 118, his first century for the county.
Cosgrove's previous three innings at Derby, where he made his career-best 233 for Glamorgan in 2006, were 156, 95 not out and 110, and he passed 13,000 first-class runs as Leicestershire closed on 415 for 3 with Ned Eckersley unbeaten on 77.
Derbyshire probably feared they were in for a long, hot day in the field when Cosgrove won the toss and had no hesitation in batting on a dry pitch in sunny conditions.
At least the bowlers made it difficult for the batsmen by maintaining a disciplined and consistent line until Leicestershire got away after tea. Only 37 runs came from the first 16 overs before Tony Palladino found just enough movement to have Paul Horton caught behind for 20.
Harry Dearden and Ackermann played carefully for the rest of the morning but Dearden went shortly after lunch, caught at gully driving at Tom Taylor four short of his fifty.
Taylor should have had Cosgrove 12 runs later but Gary Wilson, who was not keeping wicket because of a recurrence of a knee problem, spilled the chance diving in front of first slip.
Perhaps it was a 'keeper's instinct that prompted Wilson to go for the catch but it proved an expensive miss as Cosgrove and Ackermann took advantage of the favourable conditions.
Ackermann launched Wayne Madsen's off-spin over long on for six before he cut Jeevan Mendis for his 15th four to reach three figures from 149 balls.
The Sri Lankan legspinner found enough turn to have Ackermann caught at first slip but Cosgrove went smoothly through the gears to record yet another hundred at Derby.
In the second over with the new ball, he pulled and cut Rob Hemmings for boundaries to bring up his century which came off only 124 balls and included 17 fours.
It was the 34th of his first-class career, his 10th for Leicestershire and with Eckersley accelerating to a 49-ball 50, Leicestershire plundered 201 from 32 overs in the last session.
Day 2
Leicestershire 619
Derbyshire 154/1 (45.0 ov)
Derbyshire trail by 465 runs with 9 wickets remaining in the 1st innings
Skipper Billy Godleman led a Derbyshire fightback after Leicestershire had passed 600 on the second day of the Division Two County Championship match at Derby.
Godleman marked his 50th first-class appearance for the county with an unbeaten 60 as Derbyshire closed on 154 for 1 in reply to Leicestershire's 619, still 465 behind.
Leicestershire captain Mark Cosgrove top-scored with 188, adding 239 in 38 overs with Ned Eckersley who made a career-best 158 while Sri Lankan allrounder Jeevan Mendis took 6 for 204.
It was a question of how many Leicestershire would score at the start of another hot day and the answer was plenty as Cosgrove and Eckersley plundered 100 in the first hour.
Cosgrove passed his previous best for the county of 156 at Derby two years ago with a pull for four off Tony Palladino and he launched Mendis for two sixes to bring up the 500 before he was caught at long on.
The fourth-wicket stand beat the previous highest for the county against Derbyshire of 207 by Maurice Hallam and Willie Watson in 1959 and there were more records as Leicestershire erased their previous highest score at Derby of 552 for 6 declared 12 years ago.
When Eckersley completed his first hundred of the season from only 91 balls, it was only the 13th time in Leicestershire's history that three batsmen had scored centuries in the same innings and another declaration looked like the only way Derbyshire would get off the field until Eckersley clipped Tom Taylor to deep midwicket.
His departure sparked a collapse that saw the last six wickets go down for 38 with Mendis the main beneficiary of Leicestershire's pursuit of quick runs as he returned the best figures by a Derbyshire legspinner since Kim Barnett, now director of cricket, took 6 for 28 against Glamorgan at Chesterfield in 1991.
It was also the most expensive analysis by a Derbyshire bowler in 113 years although he had bowled 52 overs, 24.3 of them in one spell from the Racecourse end broken only be lunch.
But the most relevant figure for Derbyshire was 470, the runs required to avoid the follow-on, and Slater and Godleman gave them a solid start although both had some narrow escapes before Slater was caught at short leg off Zak Chappell for 42.
Shiv Thakor played and missed several times but hit Chappell for three successive fours although Derbyshire have a lot of batting to do to save the game.
Day 3
Leicestershire 619
Derbyshire 532/8 (141.0 ov)
Derbyshire trail by 87 runs with 2 wickets remaining in the 1st innings
Billy Godleman led by example as Derbyshire hit back strongly on the third day of the Division Two County Championship match against Leicestershire at Derby.
The Derbyshire captain made 141 from 275 balls and with former Leicestershire allrounder Shiv Thakor scoring 132 and Gary Wilson 97, the home side closed on 532 for 8, 87 behind.
Leicestershire's 20-year-old fast bowler Zak Chappell took wickets and Clint McKay returned the impressive figures of 2 for 78 from 32 overs but the rest of the attack struggled on a lifeless pitch.
Derbyshire had a lot of batting to do at the start of the day and Godleman and Thakor took their partnership well into the afternoon to give their side a fighting chance of saving the game.
McKay apart, Leicestershire's bowling lacked the consistency required on a flat pitch to exert pressure and a dropped catch only added to a frustrating morning for the visitors.
Godleman had reached his ninth first-class hundred for Derbyshire by driving Zak Chappell for his 17th four but Thakor should have gone on 86 when he clipped Rob Sayer to midwicket where Chappell spilled an easy chance.
Thakor took advantage against his former county to reach his first century of the season in the County Championship from 160 balls with 16 fours and the pair established a new Derbyshire second-wicket record against Leicestershire of 236 before they were parted.
It was McKay who broke through with a ball that swung away enough to take the outside edge after Thakor had made his highest score for Derbyshire and the Australian struck again in his next over when Wayne Madsen lobbed a catch to short over.
Alex Hughes edged Dieter Klein to second slip but Godleman's occupation lasted just short of seven hours before Chappell speared a yorker through his defence.
Derbyshire were still in danger at that stage of falling short of the 470 follow-on target but Wilson, who secured maximum batting points with a six off Sayer, and Daryn Smit added 81 in 18 overs.
Smit made his highest championship score for Derbyshire but was caught at second slip trying to run Klein to third man and Jeevan Mendis became Colin Ackermann's first Leicestershire wicket when he got a leading edge to point.
Wilson looked certain to become the sixth player in the game to make a hundred but he fell for the second time in the 90's this season trying to pull Chappell but he had helped Derbyshire record their highest score against Leicestershire.
Day 4
Leicestershire 619 & 217/3d
Derbyshire 533 & 42/0 (10.0 ov)
Match drawn
Derbyshire ended a run of three consecutive defeats in the County Championship as their Division Two match against Leicestershire at Derby ended in a tame draw.
Leicestershire batted on in their second innings for 57 overs before declaring on 217 for 3, which included half centuries for openers Paul Horton and Harry Dearden. A target of 304 in 33 overs was never realistic and the inevitable draw was agreed with Derbyshire 42 without loss from 10 overs.
There was always a chance the game would end in stalemate on such a lifeless pitch but the day began promisingly for Leicestershire, who took the last two Derbyshire wickets in 11 balls. Clint McKay struck with the third delivery of the day, which moved away just enough to take the edge of Rob Hemmings bat, and Tony Palladino gloved a pull to give Zak Chappell his fourth wicket.
A lead of 86 was increased to 183 at lunch by Horton and Dearden, although Horton was given a life on 8 when he was dropped at first slip by Wayne Madsen off Tom Taylor.
Horton completed his first fifty of the season before he was caught behind off Taylor and Dearden fell to a stunning piece of fielding by Billy Godleman, who threw the ball up at long-on to avoid taking it over the rope before completing the catch.
He took a more straightforward one to dismiss Mark Cosgrove and give Jeevan Mendis his eighth wicket in the game but the Sri Lankan's match figures of 8 for 283 were the most expensive in Derbyshire's history.
The game almost ground to a halt after Cosgrove's departure with Colin Ackermann and Ned Eckersley scoring only 43 runs in 13 overs while Derbyshire slowed down the over rate.
Leicestershire finally declared three overs after tea leaving Derbyshire to score at more than nine an over to pull off what would have been an astonishing victory and the players shook hands with 23 overs still to bowl.
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