Duanne Olivier took 3-51 to bowl Derbyshire into a position to claim victory, before rain halted their progress on Day Two versus Durham.
The South Africa quick claimed his wickets in the space of four overs after the lunch interval, removing the dangerous Tom Latham (67) and reducing Durham to 155-6 at tea, a lead of just 46 runs.
During the interval heavy rain arrived and stayed at Emirates Riverside, forcing an end to the day’s play meaning that Derbyshire will return on Day Three aiming to take the final four Durham wickets and chase down their second Specsavers County Championship victory of the season.
Resuming on 175-8, with a lead of 79 runs, Derbyshire were soon back out with the ball after Durham claimed two quick wickets on the morning of Day Two.
Palladino’s (32) useful innings came to an end as Matt Salisbury claimed his third and Duanne Olivier (5) followed soon after as Derbyshire were all out for 205, earning a first innings batting bonus point and a lead of 109 runs.
Latham started well for the hosts in their reply, and despite the early loss of Michael Jones, bowled by a yorker from Viljoen, Durham recovered well to head into lunch on 47-1, trailing by 62.
Graham Clark (22) fell to Alex Hughes to spark a flurry of wickets to give Derbyshire hope of claiming victory on Day Two.
Latham’s resistance came to an end on 67, caught by Wayne Madsen at first slip off Olivier as the tall South Africa paceman set about dismantling the Durham order.
Ryan Davies (0) was caught behind by Daryn Smit in the same over and Josh Coughlin became Olivier’s third wicket of the innings four overs later as Durham slipped to 133-6, with a lead of just 24.
The hosts went into the tea interval on 155-6 with a lead of 46 runs, at which point heavy rain meant the covers were brought on.
The poor weather remained and the umpires abandoned play for the day, so Durham will resume on the morning of Day Three with a lead of 46 runs with four wickets remaining.
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