Chris Bassano announced his arrival on the Championship stage with a brilliant unbeaten 186 that steered Derbyshire past the follow-on target at the County Ground.

The 25-year-old made the highest score on Championship debut by a Derbyshire batsman and has so far been at the crease for 13 minutes short of nine hours without offering a chance.

It was a highly impressive demonstration of concentration and application by the South African-born player whose only previous first-class appearance was against the Pakistan tourists last month.

Last season, he played second XI cricket for three counties including Gloucestershire and made an unbeaten 100 for the West Country club who endorsed his potential when Bassano was recommended to Derbyshire by his father Brian.

He certainly looked the part and his innings will have given the county a huge lift after some poor batting displays this summer.

He shared a stand of 202 with Steve Stubbings who made 126 and added another 110 with Rob Bailey. Bassano, who went to university in Tasmania and holds a British passport, brought up the 411 follow-on target with a square cut boundary and has so far hit 27 fours and two sixes.

Derbyshire had taken only five batting points this season - the lowest in the Championship - but they tucked away another four in this innings of 432-5 which represents their highest total of the season.

Once again, the pitch provided nothing for any of the bowlers and, so far, 992 runs have been scored for the loss of only 13 wickets and a draw on the final day looks inevitable.

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