Derbyshire's Thakor hopes to kick on after century

Thakor’s 132 was also his first hundred in four day cricket since he moved up to number three and along with a century from skipper Billy Godleman and 97 from Gary Wilson, made sure Derbyshire halted a run of three championship defeats.

It means they go to Trent Bridge on Friday with some confidence restored and with Thakor’s contribution rewarded with a rise to 13th in the Professional Cricketers’ Association Most Valuable Player Rankings.

The importance and timing of his innings was not lost on the former Leicestershire all-rounder who admitted it was vital there was a strong response to the humiliating defeat in the previous match.

He said: “After last week it was important we put on a good performance and showed some fight and that we have a lot of pride in playing for Derbyshire.”

His double century stand with Godleman took Derbyshire a long way to achieving the major objective of making 470 to avoid following-on and he added: “It was good to bat with Billy who again showed what a fine player he is.

“He led from the front and put up a great fight for the club . I’m sure there’s been some pressure on him so it’s nice for us to do him some justice.

“I haven’t had too much success against Leicestershire in the past in the championship so it was good to get that monkey off my back.

“But at the end of the day it’s another championship game and the most important thing is making sure we do the best we can with bat and ball as individuals and collectively.

“It’s been nice to be up there and have a bit more responsibility and I saw an opportunity to put my hand up and say I would love to have the chance and I was lucky in that Billy and Kim backed me to do that.

“Billy made it clear to me he backs me to do it and I’ve got his full support. It meant a lot for the club to give me the opportunity so it’s nice to be able to repay them.

“It’s disappointing I haven’t scored as many runs as I would like so it’s nice to convert one of the starts I’ve had.”