Wayne Madsen was once again a thorn in Leicestershire's side as he rescued Derbyshire from the brink of a three-day defeat in the Vitality County Championship match at Derby.
With Derbyshire 407 runs in arrears, the 40-year-old struck a stubborn unbeaten 59 off 114 balls to deny the visitors a victory and guide his side to 224 for 6 at the close.
But with rain forecast for the final day, Madsen, who has scored five centuries against Leicestershire, has given his side a good chance of salvaging a draw.
Despite missing several of their top bowlers, Leicestershire bowled out Derbyshire for 167, with Tom Scriven, Ben Mike and Scott Currie all taking three wickets. As Derbyshire slipped to 144 for 6 in their second innings, Leicestershire sensed an early end but Alex Thomson, 46 not out, stayed with Madsen for 27 overs to keep them waiting.
Derbyshire's chances of avoiding the follow-on were slim at the start of another sunny but chilly day, and they drifted even further 10 overs into the morning session. Nightwatchman Sam Conners was the first to go when he edged Scriven over the line, but the departure of David Lloyd was a damaging blow for the hosts.
The Derbyshire skipper looked in good touch, pulling Mike for six before driving the seamer to the cover boundary to reach 50 off 63 balls. But Mike had the last word when he deceived Lloyd with a delivery that angled away to take out his off stump.
Aneurin Donald and Anuj Dal restored some order with a stand of 67 off 74 balls before the introduction of Liam Trevaskis sent Donald into a frenzy. He drove the left-arm spinner's first ball to the boundary but then charged down the pitch, missed an ugly shot and was bowled. It was a reckless shot under any circumstances, but completely inappropriate given the state of the game.
The lower order quickly fell, with Currie taking the last two wickets to leave Derbyshire with one over to spare before lunch. Harry Came survived a hard chance to short leg off the penultimate ball, but the openers looked relatively comfortable after the break, passing 50 before Currie hit a hot streak. Running in from the Racecourse End, he trapped Came on the crease and in his next over removed Reece, who misjudged the line and offered no shot to a ball that nipped back.
But the best was yet to come. Lloyd was completely deceived by a full toss that dipped on to him, knocking out his off stump and leaving him flat on his back. When Trevaskis struck again in his first over, trapping Brooke Guest leg before mid-wicket on the eve of tea, the smell of the victory was in the air for the visitors.
On a day of little consolation for Derbyshire, Wayne Madsen passed 15,000 first-class runs after the interval but lost Donald to a pull to Scrivens and was bowled.
Dal stayed with Madsen for seven overs before Mike had him caught behind down the leg side, but Thomson joined Madsen to frustrate Leicestershire.