Roderick resists but Derbyshire on course for victory

Gareth Roderick and Hamish Marshall provided some Gloucestershire resistance but Derbyshire moved closer to victory on the third day at Bristol.

Faced with a first-innings deficit of 270 after Derbyshire declared on 545 for 9 in the morning, Gloucestershire found significant contributions from Roderick (75), Marshall (48 not out) and Will Tavare (45) but none could go on to a score to really trouble the visitors.

Derbyshire, beaten by Lancashire in their opening game last week, will now fancy their chances of victory after three wickets from Mark Footitt and two from Tony Palladino helped them maintain the advantage given to them by Martin Guptill's brilliant 227 on Monday.

Derbyshire, who resumed on 511 for 8, added 34 runs in 11 overs before the declaration by skipper Wayne Madsen. Teenage wicketkeeper Harvey Hosein progressed to a maiden first-class fifty before, on 61, he miscued a pull off Liam Norwell and skied a catch to Roderick behind the stumps.

Gloucestershire suffered an early setback in their second innings when Chris Dent pushed at a delivery from Footitt and was caught behind for 2. But Tavare and Roderick had few problems during a second-wicket stand of 115 in 32 overs, and Roderick brought up his fourth half-century in four County Championship innings this season with a straight-driven boundary off Tom Taylor.

Derbyshire were convinced Roderick, on 64, should have been given out caught behind off Palladino, but umpire Robert Bailey did uphold their appeals in Palladino's following over when Tavare was given out lbw without playing a shot.

Two more wickets in the next nine overs confirmed Derbyshire's dominance and left at Gloucestershire on 147 for 4. Australian Peter Handscomb was caught behind off Palladino for 14, and Roderick's impressive and fluent 119-ball innings, which included 13 fours, ended when he played on while attempting to pull a delivery from Taylor. It was the eighth time in the past 12 first-class innings that Roderick had passed fifty without making a century.

Gloucestershire captain Geraint Jones departed shortly after tea when he fell for 10 to a stunning, one-handed catch by Guptill at second slip off Footitt. There were still 26 overs of the day remaining at that stage and Derbyshire must have sensed the prospect of victory with a day to spare.

But Marshall and fellow New Zealander Kieran Noema-Barnett summoned up gritty resistance to prolong the contest with a sixth-wicket stand that realised 82 runs before Guptill intervened again in the final over of the day. Noema-Barnett, on 31, played the fourth ball of the final over from Footitt off his hips, but Guptill flew to his left at leg gully to claim his second superb catch of the day.

Derbyshire coach Graeme Welch praised the efforts of his players in the field and was particularly delighted with the dismissal of Noema-Barnett late in the day. "The pitch flattened out a bit but I was proud of the lads for the way they kept going out there," he said. "If you do the right things you get the rewards.

"Martin Guptill took two great catches and with six Gloucestershire wickets down, we are still in a great position. You've got to get wickets in different ways and we threw the dice in the last over. We put a short leg in and a man around the corner at leg gully and, thankfully, we got a wicket."

Noema-Barnett was disappointed with his dismissal and said: "These things happen, but if you hit the ball in the air you give them a chance. We worked pretty hard and showed character after a disappointing display in the field. We've still got four wickets left, so we'll see how it goes tomorrow."