Ben Duckett continued his fine form with his sixth half-century of the season as Nottinghamshire took the upper hand against Derbyshire on a rain-affected Day Two of their LV= County Championship derby contest.

Duckett amassed an eye-catching 86 from 114 deliveries, including 12 boundaries, as Notts batted the full day to move from their overnight 22/0 to 334/7, leading by 74, by the time bad light forced an early close.

Valuable contributions also came from Ben Slater, Joe Clarke, and Lyndon James, all of whom made scores north of 30, as the hosts profited from some loose bowling to firmly establish themselves in the driving seat.

Proceedings were threatened by the weather on multiple occasions, with the players forced from the field on no fewer than four occasions for varying degrees of rainfall and bad light.

That prospect was always there as the day began under thick grey cloud, but a full hour was possible before the first of those delays, during which the Green and Golds swiftly advanced to 94/2.

Driven by Slater’s 44-ball 38, Notts were scoring at more than a run a ball after eight overs, with even Haseeb Hameed’s dismissal for 15, caught at second slip off Sam Conners, doing little to take the wind out of their sails.

Slater himself nicked off to Conners to leave the score 76/2, but the purple patch of Ben Duckett shows no sign of coming to an end yet, and he picked up where the opener had left off.

He handsomely hit Conners for two boundaries in the same over before producing the shot of the day after the first rain break as he sweetly drove Liam Hurt down the ground for a sumptuously straight four.

With himself and Clarke at the crease, the Notts total breezed beyond three figures, going on to read 121/2 before the rain returned and an early lunch was taken at 12:45pm.

The left-hander went on to record another half-century, a feat he has achieved in every single first-class innings he has played at Trent Bridge this summer, with a tuck for two into the leg side off Alex Hughes.

Despite looking as though he may follow his batting partner’s lead, Clarke was unable to do so as he inside edged a full delivery from Nick Potts onto his stumps to depart for 37.

James was next to emerge, and his first contribution was to steer the hosts to 200 and to their first batting point, though Duckett fell short of reaching an individual three figures as he was bowled by Thomson shortly after.

A typically entertaining 33-ball 27 from Steven Mullaney ensued, as he and James added 48 in 64 deliveries before the Green and Gold captain edged Potts through to wicketkeeper Brooke Guest.

The hosts’ own keeper Tom Moores was unbeaten at tea alongside James, with the total just three shy of parity, and a lead was established minutes after the second break when James cut two off Conners.

All-rounder James was dismissed by Thomson for 34 shortly afterwards, bringing fellow Academy graduate Liam Patterson-White to the crease, setting in motion another half-century partnership that pushed Notts past 300.

Moores became Conners’ third victim of the day when he feathered behind down the leg side for 40, allowing James Pattinson two deliveries to swipe five runs.

The Australian formed part of an as-yet-unbroken eighth-wicket stand of 13 off eight deliveries with Patterson-White, who will also resume day three unbeaten on 34.

*******

Be More Outlaw: The 2022 Vitality Blast at Trent Bridge

Notts Outlaws, the 2017 and 2020 Vitality Blast winners, return to T20 action at Trent Bridge this summer from Friday 27 May to Friday 1 July. Pin your green and gold colours to the mast by securing your seats now.

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