Derbyshire’s investment in Saffas paid immediate dividends when they won their first match at home for almost four years.

Duanne Olivier took eight wickets, while Hardus Viljoen took four in the match and scored a vital unbeaten 60 in the first innings which gave Derbyshire a comfortable cushion and enabled them to beat Middlesex by 101 runs.

Olivier signed as Derbyshire’s overseas player for the first seven County Championship matches as well as the whole of the Royal London One-Day Cup, while Viljoen cut his links with South Africa last year and took a Kolpak contract.

It was a first win on home soil since September 2014.

They were on track to win against Northampton last year, but were thwarted by a magnificent innings by Richard Levi,  who made 99 from 79 balls, which enabled them to chase down 326 with three wickets and a ball to spare.

Another fine all-round performance came from Glamorgan’s Marchant de Lange, who also assisted in a six-wicket win over Gloucestershire. He, too, ended with eight wickets in the match, including a five-for, and hammered a freewheeling unbeaten 50 off 116 balls in a first-innings total of 526-9 declared. He was named Man of the Match.