County Championship: Derbyshire recover after collapse at Durham

Derbyshire recovered to 181-6 after losing three wickets for no runs before rain ended day two of their match with Durham early at Chester-le-Street.

They earlier lost two wickets for no runs following an opening stand of 83.

But the real collapse came after Billy Godleman (66) was bowled at 117-3 as, seven overs and just 11 runs later, Derbyshire had slumped to 128-6.

Earlier, Ravi Rampaul finished with figures of 5-77 as Durham were bowled out for 293, having resumed on 254-8.

Derbyshire then looked to be moving towards a strong first-innings score thanks to Luis Reece (34) and Godleman at the top of the order.

But, in total, their collapse saw them lose six wickets for just 45 runs, with the medium pace of Gareth Harte (3-10) and Ben Raine (2-26) both potent and frugal.

Matt Critchley (38 not out) and Leus du Plooy then steadied the Derbyshire ship with an unbroken half-century partnership before rain caused an early end to proceedings at 17:10 BST.

Durham all-rounder Gareth Harte told BBC Newcastle:

"We haven't really performed with the bat this season so it was nice to put a score on the board for the bowlers.

"Derbyshire's openers started very well and got away from us but luckily we pulled it back and we're very happy with that.

"I think as a batter, it seemed to come on a lot better when there was pace. It was kind of the slower the better for bowlers.

"I'm really happy it worked out well for me and hopefully we can get some more wickets quickly tomorrow."

Derbyshire captain Billy Godleman told BBC Radio Derby:

"It was a good fightback from Leus and Critch, hopefully one formidable partnership tomorrow can get us close to Durham's total.

"We know that wickets can come in clusters here. The clouds came over, the lights came on and two bowlers really got into their rhythm.

"It was then great to see Leus and Critch play their own game and wait for the bad ball.

"There's 20 overs until the second new ball, so I think the first port of call is getting through the opening spell tomorrow and we should be in reachable distance of Durham's first innings."