Worcestershire batters Jack Haynes and Gareth Roderick provided determined resistance before the rain, and bad light brought a premature end to day three of the LV=Insurance County Championship match with Derbyshire at New Road.
Haynes and Roderick joined forces with Worcestershire having slipped to 72-5 in pursuit of a 289 target.
But they dug in against a probing attack in testing conditions for 18 overs before play was halted for the day at 108-5 with 30 overs remaining in the day.
The normally fluent Haynes battled away for 79 balls in making 23 not out while Roderick showed defiance with his 11 not out off 56 balls.
Worcestershire will be hoping they can reproduce more of the same resistance when play resumes on the final day, when there will be FREE ADMISSION for everyone.
Play is scheduled to get underway at 11am, weather permitting.
Derbyshire resumed on 286 for six and Anuj Dal had time to complete his century before the last four wickets fell for 57 runs in the space of 21.5 overs.
Pennington ended Dal’s seventh-wicket stand of 140 with Mattie McKiernan when the latter on 71 went for a pull, and top edged a catch to Josh Baker at third man.
Ben Aitchison (5) pushed forward to Joe Leach and was caught behind, but then Dal, who resumed on 85, reached three figures with one of his few false strokes, an edge for four off Muhammad Hasnain.
Sam Conners (6) nicked Ed Barnard to second slip, and George Scrimshaw (4) picked out mid-off against spinner Josh Baker to wrap up the innings.
Dal survived one chance on 110, dropped at backward point off Hasnain. Leach’s three wickets means he needs just five more to reach the 400 mark in first class cricket.
Pennington ended with figures of 21-2-70-3, Leach 24-5-74-3, Barnard 20-6-54-2 and Baker 16.5-2-65-2.
Worcestershire openers Ed Pollock and Jake Libby batted aggressively in taking 31 off six overs before lunch, but the game swung in Derbyshire’s favour during the afternoon session.
For the second time in the game, Pollock smashed Aitchison for six and was then dismissed to the next delivery, this time falling at third slip.
Libby, on 23, was caught down the leg side off Aitchison, and Taylor Cornall drove against Conners and gave keeper Brooke Guest his eighth catch of the match.
Kashif Ali (6) chopped a Dal delivery onto his stumps, and Barnard (7) aimed a drive at Aitchison and was dismissed at first slip.
But then Haynes and Roderick came together to ensure no more breakthroughs were before the close.
