Leicestershire close in as Rehan caps contest with ten-for

Leicestershire closed in on another victory with England all-rounder Rehan Ahmed again playing a starring role on day three of the Rothesay County Championship match against Derbyshire at Derby.

Ahmed claimed 4 for 41 and 10 wickets in the Division Two match at the Central Co-op County Ground to leave the hosts on 98 for 4 at the close, still 347 runs away from a notional target of 446.

Luis Reece celebrated career-best match figures of 11 for 120, taking 5 for 64, before Leicestershire declared on 236 for 9 with Ian Holland scoring 90 from 98 balls and Ben Green 45.

Derbyshire chances were always slim at best on a used pitch and despite 41 from opener Caleb Jewell, they were sliding towards defeat when bad light halted play with seven overs still to bowl.

Once Leicestershire decided not to enforce the follow-on, it was a question of how quickly they could get to the sort of lead that would put the game beyond Derbyshire.

Reece had run through them on the second morning and he threatened to do the same again, removing both openers in his first three overs.

Rishi Patel prodded a simple chance to short cover which gave Wayne Madsen his 100th first-class catch at Derby.

Madsen held another one to remove Sol Budinger and after some typically flamboyant strokes, Ahmed pulled Reece to deep mid on.

When Reece trapped Peter Handscomb lbw, there was still a chance Derbyshire could restrict Leicestershire to a target they had a realistic chance of chasing down but Holland dashed those slim hopes.

Although Alex Thomson removed Lewis Hill, Liam Trevaskis and Louis Kimber before lunch, Holland was four short of 50 at the interval with the lead a daunting 345.

Holland and Green took that past 400, adding 89 from 85 balls before Green was bowled by Reece who had now taken five wickets in both innings of a match for the first time.

The declaration came when Holland drove a return catch to Thomson which left Derbyshire a highly improbable target on a challenging pitch.

They made a decent start until Ahmed made his latest mark on the match, taking three wickets either side of tea.

David Lloyd pulled a short ball to mid on and Harry Came edged a cut into the gloves of Handscomb in the last over of the afternoon.

When Madsen went cheaply for the second time in the match, seeing a defensive shot spin back onto the stumps, his side was in trouble on 52 for 3.

Jewell resisted for 110 balls before he was lbw playing back to Ahmed and Leicestershire will be confident of completing a sixth victory on the final day to take another step closer to promotion.