Thomas Huxley referred to “the slaying of beautiful theory by ugly fact”. The thesis that this game might drift into stalemate was undone, in fact, by a compendium of errors, some very ugly indeed. But after the grind of Wednesday, the incident proved unending.

Having charged forward by 148 runs in 35 overs despite the early loss of Garry Park for 72, Derbyshire, taking desperate, if vain, measures for a final batting point, lost their last five men in 23 balls from Iain O'Brien, giving the New Zealand seamer his first six-wicket haul in Britain.

But Leicestershire then threw away three wickets in doubling their 47-run lead, Boeta Dippenaar, the captain, running himself out attempting an impossible second run to mid-wicket. When, nine balls from tea, Hylton Ackerman greeted Jake Needham's speculative first over by driving straight to short cover, Derbyshire were in command.

It sums up the game that 13 innings have passed 37 but none has reached 97. On a day when Jim Allenby was one of two batsmen to get off the mark with a six, his 52 from 57 balls and Tom New's unbeaten 63 have revived the hope of a thriller.

Park's departure, undone by turn in the seventh over, was followed by Dan Redfern's, ten balls later. Without adding to his fifty from 112 balls, Redfern swatted at a slow bouncer from Allenby's gentle medium pace and feathered to New, the wicketkeeper, who held six catches in the innings.

Redfern, 19, later received a fearful blow at short leg when New pulled a Needham full toss straight into the grille of his helmet. Led, groggy, from the field after a long delay, he may hope for a quieter Friday than one devoted to a hectic pursuit of runs.

Happier violence awaited an appallingly ill-directed new ball, earlier, as Wavell Hinds, Greg Smith and Jamie Pipe pummelled 87 runs in an hour. Hinds blocked his first ball and then launched the next over long-on for six, en route to 40 from 56 balls.

But Smith, also for 40, and Pipe, for 49 in 52 balls, were the first of O'Brien's late successes in a rash of swishes, swipes and flashes. The attitude infected Leicestershire's top order as, maintaining the madness, they hammered 143 runs, but lost six wickets, in two bizarre hours either side of tea, Allenby going one ball after reaching his fifty with his fourth six.

The seventh wicket added 65 invaluable runs in 17 overs, but George Walker was taken at short leg, seven balls from the close, by the diving Ben Slater, a substitute fielder, to conclude a remarkable day.

Leicestershire: First Innings 412 (J Allenby 96, J W A Taylor 89, T J New 66; I D Hunter 5 for 82)

Second Innings
M A G Boyce c Hunter b Hayward 7
J J Cobb c Pipe b Wagg 4
*H H Dippenaar run out 1
H D Ackerman c Wagg b Needham 31
J Allenby c Pipe b Hunter 52
J W A Taylor lbw b Wagg 4
†T J New not out 63
G W Walker c sub b Wagg 13
I E O'Brien not out 0
Extras (b 6, lb 10, w 2, nb 16) 34
Total (7 wkts, 51 overs) 209
Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-19, 3-47, 4-73, 5-92, 6-143, 7-208.
Bowling: Wagg 15-3-70-3; Hunter 7-2-34-1; Hinds 5-0-15-0; Hayward 10-0-36-1; Needham 11-3-29-1; Smith 3-0-9-0.

Derbyshire: First Innings (overnight 188-2)
G T Park c Dippenaar b Walker 72
D J Redfern c New b Allenby 50
W W Hinds c New b O'Brien 40
G M Smith c Allenby b O'Brien 40
†D J Pipe c New b O'Brien 49
G G Wagg c Ackerman b O'Brien 16
J Needham c New b O'Brien 6
I D Hunter not out 3
M Hayward c New b O'Brien 0
Extras (b 8, lb 5, nb 10) 23
Total (113.3 overs) 365
Fall of wickets: 1-60, 2-103, 3-207, 4-213, 5-279, 6-336, 7-345, 8-356, 9-365.
Bowling: O'Brien 29.3-3-87-6; Harris 20-4-92-0; Allenby 18-4-30-1; Gurney 20-4-68-2; Walker 26-7-75-1.
Umpires: N G Cowley and V A Holder.