GRITTY determined batting was called for and gritty determined batting was what Derbyshire gave on the third day of their LV County Championship match against Surrey at The Oval.
On what was always likely to be a key day in their relegation battle, Derbyshire wiped out their first innings deficit for the loss of only one wicket just before lunch and moved into an overall lead of 161 at the close, when they were 231-7.
A Derbyshire win is not out of the question, especially if they can eke out a few more runs at the start of the final day, but even if they are quickly finished off and Surrey start their push for victory, they are going to have to earn it.
The longer Derbyshire bat and the bigger lead they can build, the more time is going to become a factor for Surrey, who must chase the win. If they have to take more risks, that could play into Derbyshire's hands.
Batting is getting harder and harder. The spinners are finding more turn and the bounce for the seamers from the Vauxhall end is getting very erratic.
Wayne Madsen was hit on the helmet by a ball that was barely short from the skiddy Tim Linley but was out to a length ball that hardly got above shin height to the tall Chris Tremlett.
It was slow and steady stuff from Derbyshire but there can be no complaints about that. This was precisely what the situation demanded and it took a lot of character to provide it.
They resumed at 13-0 and survived the initial Surrey assault but lost a wicket in the eighth over of the day when Ben Slater tried to clip a ball from Tim Linley off his hip, was surprised by the extent of the bounce and succeeded only in looping a gentle catch to cover point.
He made 13 and the score was 29-1.
Madsen took a long time to get off the mark before he and Paul Borrington began to build an important partnership. They put on 51 by lunch but Borrington was out for 38 to the fifth ball after the interval, leaving a ball from Linley that knocked over his off stump.
Shivnarine Chanderpaul came in to add 40 with Madsen in 16 overs before the West Indian was lbw to Gareth Batty for 14 at 120-3.
Madsen's half-century came up off 137 balls with five fours but he fell three balls into the second over after tea for 59 and there was not much he could do about the manner of his dismissal at 157-4.
The loss of the captain heralded a tricky spell for Derbyshire as Richard Johnson was bowled for 27 trying to turn Zafar Ansari off his legs, then Alex Hughes went in similar fashion to Madsen for one and they were rocking at 167-6.
Peter Burgoyne stuck in for eight overs before being caught at slip for five trying to cut Batty at 183-7 but Tom Poynton (29 not out) and David Wainwright (22 not out) batted superbly against the old ball and the new to keep Derbyshire hopes of a third successive victory alive.
