YORKSHIRE set Derbyshire the daunting task of scoring 421 to avoid the follow-on in the Championship match at Headingley and their bottom-of-the-table opponents were struggling at the close on 247-7, still 174 runs away from safety.

They will be keeping their fingers crossed that the rain which is forecast over the next couple of days does not stop them from completing their sixth win of the season and their third from consecutive matches.

Yorkshire, resuming on a commanding 419-3, blasted their way to 570 before losing their final wicket. It was their highest score in a home Championship match against Derbyshire, beating the 561 they made at Abbeydale Park, Sheffield, in 1996.

Phil Jaques, 217 overnight, played the second ball of the day from Graeme Welch for two but then tamely hit the next one high to Jon Moss at cover and departed after a tremendous innings which had lasted for 261 balls and contained 33 fours and a six.

The fourth wicket pair had added 82 in 23 overs and Yorkshire were clearly not in the mood to hang about, Ian Harvey blazing his way to a half-century that contained 12 boundaries.

Two overs from Nick Walker cost 19 runs but when Moss briefly took over he was hammered for four fours in his solitary over by Harvey, three of them off his first three balls.

Harvey had dashed to 83 from 106 deliveries with 17 savagely struck fours when he wafted Hunter to mid-on, but the rapid advance was maintained by Craig White who struck Ant Botha's left-arm spin for two big sixes in one over with a mid-wicket pick-up and a clean straight drive.

Former Yorkshire off-spinner Andy Gray, who had a spell in York and District Senior League cricket with Wilberfoss, cleaned up the tail by grabbing the last three wickets to leave White unbeaten on 67 from 80 balls with seven fours and two sixes.

Keen to impress after his spell in the second team, Chris Silverwood was a little too tense with the new ball and Michael Di Venuto took three fours from his first two overs which gave away 16 runs but Deon Kruis struck in the over before lunch when a ball looped off Steve Stubbings' gloves to Ismail Dawood.

In the next over after the interval, Hassan Adnan held out his bat to Silverwood and was also caught behind but Di Venuto, who made 203 in his previous innings against Durham, completed his half-century and at 67 reached 1,000 first class runs for the season.

He and Moss had added 99 and were beginning to frustrate Yorkshire when Moss was caught by Jaques at first slip off Anthony McGrath for 52 with nine fours but the real breakthrough came straight after tea with the dismissal of Di Venuto who misread Richard Dawson's arm ball and

was lbw for 79 off 144 balls with 11

boundaries.

Travis Friend, the former Duncombe Park overseas player, went

lbw to Tim Bresnan in the following over and two good catches by Joe Sayers ended stubborn resistance from captain Luke Sutton and Welch, Sutton being snapped up at short leg off bat and pad against Dawson and Welch clipping Silverwood low to cover.

Yorkshire tried hard to bowl out Derbyshire before the close but Gray and Botha safely negotiated the final ten overs of the day together.

Rain also looked looked like condeming Yorkshire's Second XI Championship game with Worcestershire at Stamford Bridge to a draw today.

Worcestershire made 283 in their first innings - a lead of 61 which they increased in their second innings yesterday, reaching 184-3 at the close, Stepohen Pears having scored 98.

David Wainwright 61 and Andrew Gale 60 were the pick of the Yorkshire batsmen with former Yorkshire bowler David Wrigley taking 5-73 for the visitors.

Updated: 11:13 Thursday, July 28, 2005