Derbyshire celebrated their first ever promotion to make it a day to remember for Ross Whiteley who marked his 24th birthday with an unbeaten half-century and two late wickets in the LV= County Championship Division Two match against Hampshire at Derby.
Kent's defeat at Glamorgan sealed Derbyshire's place in Division One next season and they will go up as champions if they beat Hampshire who closed day three on 142 for six, only 139 ahead, with Bilal Shafayat unbeaten on 52.
Whiteley scored an undefeated 57 out of 275 and then took two for six from five overs to give Derbyshire the advantage going into the final day of the season.
Yorkshire also have the chance to claim the Division Two title after their promotion was confirmed. Glamorgan's win meant Kent could not catch Yorkshire who head into the final day against Essex needing a win and hoping Derbyshire do not match their result to take top spot.
Yorkshire's first task is to bowl Essex out a second time after leaving them a target of 388. Yorkshire declared their second innings on 252 for eight and by the close Essex were struggling at 28 for two.
Robert Croft took a wicket with his final ball in first-class cricket as Glamorgan ended Kent's promotion hopes with a day to spare at Cardiff. The 42-year-old off-spinner had Charlie Shreck caught at long-off as Kent were bowled out in their second innings for 280 after following on.
Glamorgan were left with 61 runs needed to victory and they achieved it by seven wickets.
Claude Henderson snapped up two wickets in the penultimate over of the day to give Leicestershire a chance of finishing the season with a victory against Gloucestershire at Grace Road. The veteran South African left-arm spinner dismissed Will Gidman and James Fuller as Gloucestershire closed on 254 for nine in their second innings, leaving them with a lead of 193.
Earlier, Fuller had taken three wickets for five runs in 10 balls to restrict the home side to a first-innings lead of 61.
Then, Wayne White grabbed three wickets in one over as Gloucestershire looked to set a challenging target. Dan Housego hit 62 and Will Gidman 72 off 81 balls, but Henderson's late double strike put Leicestershire in the driving seat.
