BRETT D'Oliveira hailed fellow Worcestershire opener Daryl Mitchell after he passed 10,000 first-class runs for the County and said: "it is one hell of an achievement."

Mitchell reached the landmark in the Specsavers County Championship clash with Derbyshire at the 3aaa County Ground.

The 33-year-old and D'Oliveira both scored centuries in a stand of 243 as Worcestershire closed on 323-3 - a lead of 48 heading into the today's final day.

D'Oliveira, who scored 150, said: "It was a long day but I think we are in a great position. The boys battled hard. I'm really pleased for Mitch.

"Obviously it has been quite tough for us early season with the new ball on some tasty pitches but for us both to get in and have that partnership was great.

"For Mitch to pass 10,000 runs for Worcestershire is a hell of an achievement and I am really happy for him.

"We were a bit stunned out there in the middle, we didn't know what everyone was cheering for!

"But as soon as we walked in for tea, we sort of knew and had a chat inside and congratulated him. It was great.

"He is a man of few words is Mitch but I'm sure he is very happy with that. I'm certainly happy and I know the guys are.

"I thought he played a fantastic knock and helped me a hell of a lot."

Worcestershire will look to make amends for losing 128.5 overs to rain on the opening two days when the game reaches its conclusion today.

D'Oliveira said: "We are going to have more of a chat tonight but the way it is going I would imagine we will try and kick on in the morning, put them under pressure with the bat and then try and get them in and bowl them out.

"A lot of overs have been lost but that's cricket and that's England, it rains a lot here, but we can't do anything about that.

"All we can do is control when we are playing and I think we've done that pretty well so far throughout the season and especially today."