Essex tightened their grip on the LV= County Championship fixture at The 3aaa County Ground after the visitors blew Derbyshire away on Day Two.
Mark Pettini (117 not out) completed his second century of the campaign while James Foster added 60 in the morning session as Essex declared on 464-7 shortly before lunch.
First-class debutant Jack Winslade then returned 4-20 whilst Tom Moore took 3-12 during a frantic afternoon session as Derbyshire were dismissed for 94 at tea, with Tony Palladino unable to bat and Shiv Thakor requiring a runner due to injury.
Forced to follow-on, Chesney Hughes and Ben Slater showed resistance in the evening session to share a half-century partnership but both fell shortly before stumps for 38 and 29 respectively to leave Derbyshire on 100-3 at the close, trailing by 270 runs.
A Derbyshire seam attack without the injured Thakor and Palladino were held off in the first hour by the overnight pair of Pettini and Foster.
Pettini advanced to his century from 155 balls having struck 12 fours whilst his partner Foster moved through to a half-century.
The Essex innings was declared on 464-7 when Foster was caught by Mark Footitt on the fine-leg boundary off the bowling of Derbyshire captain Wayne Madsen, his 11th career first-class wicket.
The hosts appeared to make a solid start as Slater and Billy Godleman shared 38 for the first wicket before Moore removed Slater (12) and his replacement Hughes in successive balls.
Congratulations to @ChesneyH22 who has just scored his 3,000th run in first-class cricket #P2bD pic.twitter.com/vqupsVYkI2
— Derbyshire CCC (@DerbyshireCCC) September 10, 2015
Godleman fell for 22 whilst the score remained on 38 and then both Wes Durston (5) and Wayne Madsen (2) were dismissed with the score on 48-5.
Scott Elstone and Tom Poynton showed fight to take the score to 71 but both men, in addition to Mark Footitt were out to leave Derbyshire on 78-8.
Despite suffering from a back injury, Thakor displayed bravery to come out to bat as last man for Derbyshire but only made two as the hosts were dismissed for 94, with Palladino unable to bat.
Having secured a 370-run first-innings lead, Essex immediately enforced the follow-on during the tea interval. On resumption, Slater and Godleman batted positively to put on 35 for the first wicket before Godleman was caught in the slips off Jesse Ryder for 23.
The battling Slater put on Derbyshire’s first 50 partnership of the game with Chesney Hughes, in which time the all-rounder surpassed 3,000 career first-class runs.
Slater was second man out for 29 and Hughes succumbed to a yorker by Ravi Bopara for 38 as Derbyshire finished the day on 102-3, still trailing Essex by 268 runs.
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Day Three of the LV= County Championship fixture between Derbyshire and Essex starts at 10.30am on Friday 11 September, tickets are available to purchase on the gate.
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