An Incora County Ground gripped by the heart of the UK heatwave saw Haseeb Hameed and Ben Duckett put on a batting masterclass as Nottinghamshire took control of their clash with Derbyshire.

Hameed hit a career-best unbeaten 165, with Duckett contributing a free-flowing 237 not out, as the visitors hit their highest-ever second-wicket partnership against their local rivals.

Notts reached 439/1 at stumps. 

Across the country, this was a day where the conditions demanded adaptation for spectators more than players. Shins were on show in the press box, while jackets were removed – although ties remained firmly in place – in the Lord’s Long Room.

But while a number of counties opted to conclude play early to avoid the peak of the heat, Derbyshire Head Coach Mickey Arthur – a man of Southern Hemisphere blood whose most recent assignment took him into subtropical Sri Lankan climes – gave any such notion short shrift.

And although the outfield remained straw coloured in the wake of Michael Bublé’s appearance a fortnight ago, there was a tinge of green to the pitch as Steven Mullaney won the toss.

A delighted Notts skipper looked up rather than down in opting to bat first, and while Hameed and Slater weren’t entirely untroubled in the opening hour, boundaries came with relative ease.

Hameed was the aggressor – driving better than Max Verstappen, as the BBC’s Dave Bracegirdle put it – as he took a particular liking to the right-arm fast-medium of Ben Aitchison.

But a pitch possessing sufficient pace and carry still contained enough to worry the openers, and Ben Slater (12) fell as Anuj Dal extracted a modicum of movement to find the left-hander’s edge.

Vice-captain Hameed proceeded serenely, however, a drive through extra cover off Aitchison epitomising his innings.

The right-hander passed fifty from 78 balls – a second half-century in his last three innings, and seventh of the season overall.

Not to be outdone, Duckett displayed the form which saw him earn an England Lions call-up – and subsequently steal the show against South Africa – with his customary selection box of cuts, pulls and slashes scorching across the parched outfield.

His fifty arrived after the lunch interval, from 58 deliveries, and the southpaw continued to tease the fielders with perfectly-paced drives as the mercury moved towards record levels.

Nottinghamshire’s number three benefitted from a stroke of luck in the field here and there, but otherwise was imperious – and he began to enjoy the majority of the strike in the afternoon session as his next landmark loomed.

It was Duckett who reached three figures first, skipping down the wicket to Mattie McKiernan before flicking into the leg-side and raising his fist in triumph.

Exactly one over later, Hameed clipped Scrimshaw off his pads to go to the same milestone as Notts completed the afternoon session without losing a wicket.

The punishment continued after Tea, Derbyshire toiling in Saharan conditions as Duckett put the pedal to the metal.

His 150 arrived from 181 deliveries – but it was Hameed who played arguably the shot of the day with an unstoppable on-drive off McKiernan.

But even as Hameed struck the contest’s first six – lofted over cover off McKiernan – and even as he reached 150 for the first time in First-Class cricket, this was Duckett’s day.

His double-hundred came from 224 balls, and he soon passed his previous best score for Nottinghamshire of 216, scored against Cambridge MCCU in April 2019.

Those were the embryonic days of his Trent Bridge career – a career which is reaching still loftier peaks week by week.

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