Twenty-three wickets fell on an extraordinary second day of the crucial promotion battle at Derby.

Two complete innings saw Derbyshire skittled for 137 in reply to Middlesex's first-innings 292, before the visitors were dismissed for just 150 second time around.

Set 306 to win, Derbyshire finished on 45 for one in their second innings - a deficit of 260.

Victory would see Middlesex promoted, while defeat for Derbyshire would make it impossible for them to squeeze into one of the three promotion spots.

Ashley Noffke was the star of the day, returning the superb figures of eight for 24 as Derbyshire crumbled after a promising start to their dig.

Came to life

They were in fair shape on 113 for three but Noffke came to life to single-handedly derail the hosts.

The Aussie paceman took the remaining seven wickets, starting with Chris Bassano, caught by Paul Weekes for 49.

The only batsman to offer anything by way of resistance was Mohammad Ali, the number nine punching three fours and a six in a 19-ball knock that produced 21 runs.

He was left undefeated when the final batsman fell, with Derbyshire's innings lasting just 42 overs.

But Kevin Dean and Jason Kerr both grabbed four wickets as Middlesex's second innings lasted for an even shorter time, 36.5 overs.

Only David Alleyne with 49 unbeaten runs did anything with the bat as Derbyshire hit back hard.

With 260 runs needed and plenty of time on their side, this crunch game is teed up for a thrilling finale.

Derbyshire: A I Gait, M J Di Venuto (Capt), C W G Bassano, S A Selwood, D R Hewson, L D Sutton (Wkt), G Welch, J I D Kerr, Mohammad Ali, K J Dean, L J Wharton.

Middlesex: S G Koenig (Capt), R M S Weston, B L Hutton, E C Joyce, P N Weekes, D Alleyne (Wkt), J W M Dalrymple, A A Noffke, S J Cook, C B Keegan, P C R Tufnell.

Umpires: D J Constant and T E Jesty