Derbyshire were denied a rare Specsavers County Championship win by the inclement weather in their draw with Nottinghamshire.
Match scores (Trent Bridge)
Nottinghamshire 1st inns: 229 (Mullaney 76, Wessels 39; Palladino 4-44, McKerr 2-53, Taylor 2-58)
Nottinghamshire 2nd inns: 349 (Patel 82, Mullaney 62, Read 74*, Wessels 46; Taylor 4-67, Mendis 4-96)
Derbyshire 1st inns: 363 (Godleman 121, Madsen 56; Gurney 3-55, Hutton 3-65)
Derbyshire 2nd inns: 190-5 (Madsen 61, Wilson 31*; Fletcher 2-46)
Match drawn
Day four report
Derbyshire were denied a rare Specsavers County Championship win by the inclement weather as their Division Two fixture with Nottinghamshire ended in a draw at Trent Bridge.
Closing in on a first victory in the competition for nearly two years, Derbyshire had reached 190 for five in pursuit of a victory target of 216 before rain cruelly ended the contest.
Wayne Madsen had led the charge with 61 off only 57 balls, a knock which included eight fours and a six, while Gary Wilson contributed an unbeaten 31, but leaders Nottinghamshire were given a reprieve by the poor conditions.
Despite the morning session being rained off, Derbyshire quickly warmed to their task on the final afternoon, with Nottinghamshire only adding 36 runs to their overnight 313 for six.
Tom Taylor took three of the four wickets to fall, first bowling Brett Hutton for 11, then having Luke Wood caught at long-leg without scoring before pinning Luke Fletcher lbw for one to finish with four for 67.
Chris Read had advanced to his second championship fifty and attempted to keep as much of the strike while paired with last man Harry Gurney.
The Nottinghamshire captain smashed a flurry of boundaries to advance to 74 not out before Gurney fenced Jeevan Mendis (four for 96) to point.
Derbyshire, without a championship win since July 2015, had a minimum of 49 overs to reach their total.
They lost both of their openers inside the first 10 overs, with Luis Reece thumping Fletcher to mid-off for 14, while Billy Godleman, who made 121 in the first innings, contributed just 22 second time around before being caught behind off Wood.
Shiv Thakor and Madsen added 67 for the third wicket before Gurney had the former caught behind for 25.
Madsen reached his half-century with a six off the same bowler but then gifted Nottinghamshire his wicket. Dancing down the track towards Samit Patel he sliced the ball out to Hutton at deep backward point.
The final hour brought another stoppage, lopping five overs off the day. When they returned Fletcher pinned Alex Hughes lbw for 24 but there was no time for any further progress by either side as the gloom gave way to heavy rain.
Notts take nine points from the drawn contest, leaving them still clear at the top of the second division table, although chasers Worcestershire and Kent remain within range with games in hand.
Derbyshire take 12 points from the contest and move up to eighth spot in the table.
Day three report
Nottinghamshire worked their way back into contention with a day of gradual accumulation on day three of their Specsavers County Championship match against Derbyshire at Trent Bridge.
After being outplayed for the first half of the contest, when they sustained a first innings deficit of 134 runs, the home county were on 313 for six, a lead of 179, when bad light and rain brought about an early finish.
Samit Patel made 82 and Steven Mullaney scored 62 for the Division Two leaders, sharing in a stand of 137 for the third wicket.
Jeevan Mendis picked up half of the wickets to fall, returning figures of three for 93 from his 24 overs.
Resuming from their overnight position of 67 for two, still 67 adrift, Mullaney and Patel were quickly into their stride, taking 14 from the first two overs.
Derbyshire rotated their bowling attack but on a placid wicket few opportunities were created as each batsman advanced past fifty. Mullaney, who scored 76 on the first day, reached the landmark from 98 balls, with seven fours.
Patel's first half-century of the summer arrived from 104 deliveries, with eight fours. In the final over of the morning Mullaney, on 58, had a life when he popped Mendis up to short-leg but Alex Hughes failed to hold on.
Mendis got his man, early in the afternoon session, thanks to an excellent catch. The batsman miscued a high pull and looked crestfallen as Tom Taylor ran back from midwicket and dived to take the ball as it dropped over his shoulder.
Patel was slightly unfortunate when a delivery from Conor McKerr kept low and pinned him in front lbw.
Fifth-wicket pairing Michael Lumb and Riki Wessels added 48 before Lumb popped Mendis up to short-leg for 21.
The Sri Lankan leg-spinner had a growing influence on proceedings, despite having long-hops pulled away for maximums by Wessels and Chris Read.
In fading light, a googly from Mendis deceived Wessels for 46 but Read was still there, also on 46, when bad light and drizzle ended play with 28 overs lost to the weather.
Without a championship victory since July 2015, Derbyshire's mettle will be fully tested on the final day with all results now possible.
Day two report
A century from Billy Godleman (pictured), his third of the season, has given Derbyshire the opportunity of ending a barren sequence of results against their near-neighbours Nottinghamshire.
Godleman made 121 as his side reached 363, a first-innings lead of 134 on the second day of their Specsavers County Championship match at Trent Bridge.
Without a Championship win anywhere since July 2015, Derbyshire also have not defeated their local rivals in Nottingham for 15 years.
Their chances of halting those streaks have been boosted by a solid couple of days, which have left the second division leaders on the back foot.
In the final session of the day Notts reached 67 for two, still runs adrift.
Wayne Madsen, who began his innings at the start of play after Shiv Thakor had fallen in the final over of the first day, was able to get his innings up and running by tickling Harry Gurney to the leg side fence for four and then repeated the dose off Luke Fletcher.
Godleman, the visiting skipper, reached his 50 from 80 balls with six fours and his partner brought up the same milestone from 94 deliveries with nine fours.
Brett Hutton eventually made the initial breakthrough just before lunch by pinning Madsen lbw for 56 after a third-wicket partnership of 112 with his captain.
Gurney picked up two wickets for the home side in the hour after lunch, removing Alex Hughes for 12 and Gary Wilson for 13.
Hughes' dismissal, an lbw, was eventually confirmed by umpire Patrick Gustard, who then had a long consultation with his colleague Graham Lloyd before sending Wilson on his way.
Godleman's 11th boundary, a leg-side tickle off Gurney, took him to his 15th first-class century from 155 deliveries and propelled his side past Nottinghamshire's first-innings total of 229.
Daryn Smit helped his captain add 58 for the sixth wicket before also falling to a leg before wicket decision, given out against Samit Patel for 32 despite his bat-pad prod deflecting the ball down to the third man fence.
Jamaican umpire Gustard, umpiring his second first-class match during a short stint in England, clearly likes to give himself as much time as possible before making any decisions.
A lengthy deliberation with umpire Lloyd resulted in the end of Godleman's near six-hour marathon after the pair agreed that an under-edge had carried all the way into the wicketkeeper's gloves.
Further scrutiny proceeded the fourth lbw of the day, before he upheld Patel's appeal against Tony Palladino.
There was almost a fielding catastrophe as Jeevan Mendis hoisted a high swirling catch back over the head of bowler Hutton with Gurney somehow hanging on to the offering, despite Fletcher barging into his team-mate as the catch was claimed.
Notts were further held up by the last-wicket pairing of Tom Taylor and Conor McKerr, who added 34 before Gurney grabbed his third wicket by having Taylor caught at third man.
With the momentum of having gained a first-innings lead over Notts, for the first time since that victory in 2002, Derbyshire were further buoyed by knocking over two top order batsmen in the closing 14 overs of the day.
McKerr removed Jake Libby for the second time in the match with Smit taking a smart catch with the gloves, before the keeper followed up with an even better effort to send back Cheteshwar Pujara off Taylor.
Day one report
Tony Palladino tilted the honours towards Derbyshire on the opening day of their Specsavers County Championship match against Nottinghamshire.
Palladino claimed figures of four for 44 to help dismiss the home county for 229 in only 67 overs, while Steven Mullaney top-scored with 76 for the Division Two leaders, who lost their last eight wickets for only 97 after being invited to bat first.
In dark conditions at Trent Bridge, Derbyshire responded with 52 for two with captain Billy Godleman unbeaten on 18.
Conor McKerr, a 19-year old paceman on loan at Derby from Surrey, made a dream start to his first-class career by snaring a wicket with just his fourth delivery. The Johannesburg-born bowler induced an edge from Jake Libby in the second over of the day, which flew sharply to Wayne Madsen at first slip.
The second-wicket pairing of Mullaney and Cheteshwar Pujara added 56 but they were parted when Palladino had the Indian player, who had a brief stint with Derbyshire in 2014, caught behind for 29.
A heavy shower then lopped off the remainder of the morning session and neither McKerr nor Tom Taylor could find their lengths upon their return.
Mullaney and Samit Patel made them pay spectacularly, rattling along with a stand of 72 in only 9.2 overs.
Patel flat-batted McKerr over the ropes at point for the first six of the match, and stroked five other boundaries in a quickfire 28.
His 24th delivery was his last, as Palladino altered the momentum with one that nipped through the defences and knocked the leg stump back.
Mullaney had reached his 50 from 78 balls and advanced to 76 from 95 when he fell in the same manner, giving Palladino his third wicket of the day and his second within the space of six deliveries.
Luis Reece nipped out Michael Lumb cheaply and the slide continued when debutant McKerr returned to dismiss Chris Read for nought.
Riki Wessels was unbeaten on 38 at tea, an innings that included a pulled maximum from the second delivery sent down by Jeevan Mendis. He added just one more upon the resumption before edging Taylor behind.
The same bowler then put Brett Hutton out of his misery, yorking him for nine, after a stodgy out-of-sorts knock which spanned more than an hour.
Palladino pinned Luke Fletcher lbw and last man Harry Gurney swished unsuccessfully at Mendis and was bowled, leaving Luke Wood undefeated on 21.
With the floodlights burning brightly, Derbyshire made an assured start to their first innings before losing Reece for 17, caught at slip by Wessels, off Wood.
In the final over of the day Shiv Thakor also perished, nudging Hutton into the hands of Patel for 13.
