Nottinghamshire first innings: 324: Hameed (68), Cohen (3-47). Second innings: 279: Patel (80), Hameed (52).
Derbyshire first innings: 239: du Plooy (130), Critchley (45). Second innings: 129-1: Godleman (69*), Madsen (27*).
Captain Billy Godleman ended Day Three unbeaten on 69 as Derbyshire recovered well in the final session to leave the opening Bob Willis Trophy fixture in the balance at Trent Bridge.
Samit Patel (80) and Haseeb Hameed (52) hit half-centuries for Nottinghamshire, but seven wickets shared between Ben Aitchison (3-55), Michael Cohen (2-51), Matt Critchley (1-31) and Luis Reece (1-61) ended the innings on 279.
That meant Derbyshire were set 365 to win the match, and the second-wicket partnership of Godleman and Wayne Madsen (27 not out) saw them through to the end of the day and a total of 129-1.
Hameed began Day Three at the crease with Steven Mullaney (48), and the pair started brightly before the Nottinghamshire captain was caught by Mattie McKiernan off Reece.
Hameed continued and reached his half-century in 125 balls, including seven fours, but not before Peter Trego (8) and Tom Moores (7) fell to Aitchison and Cohen respectively.
Aitchison claimed the third wicket of his first-class debut, and it was the breakthrough that Derbyshire needed, as Hameed (52) was caught by McKiernan, which reunited the strong first-innings partnership of Patel and Joey Evison.
The pair once again frustrated the Derbyshire attack, and they added 74 runs before Evison (31) was caught well off Aitchison, while Patel’s positive innings was brought to a close by the catcher, Critchley.
Jake Ball (22) was the final wicket to fall, as Cohen had him caught by Harvey Hosein, setting Derbyshire a total of 365 to win the match.
Godleman and Reece (24) started strongly, with the latter smashing three fours and six from just 20 balls, before he was caught by Ball off Trego, bringing Madsen to the crease.
The second-wicket pairing held firm for the final 27 overs of the day, adding 96 runs as the Derbyshire captain reached his first half-century of the campaign in 76 balls, including six fours and one six.
Derbyshire closed on 129-1, still requiring a further 236 runs to win, but with a highly-experienced duo at the crease and an enthralling final day in prospect.
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