Batsman Nick Selman picked up a patient 50 as the hosts reached 237 under the floodlights in Cardiff.
The visiting side head into day 3 with a 53 run lead after an impressive day's bowling from Antonio Palladino and the Derbyshire spin attack in the middle overs.
"It was good to spend some time in the middle and get used to the pink ball, I think they bowled pretty well and stuck to a line, in the end there we probably weren’t patient enough," said Selman.
The Australian-born Englishman insisted that his slow and steady run-rate was a product of the conditions and adjustment to the pink ball.
"Everyone’s got their game plans but especially today it was quite hard to score. When the ball gets soft it’s hard to score quickly with that pink ball but there’s no real focus on how quickly or slowly we score."
"Hopefully the big quicks can get out there early on, take some poles and crack the game open."
LISTEN// Nick Selman speaks to Nick Webb at the close of the day 2.