County Championship: Sussex all but safe in Division 1 after draw with Yorkshire

Having picked up three bowling points on day two of the contest at Hove, Sussex knew if they could grab at least one batting point, they could extend their safety margin just a little more.

A victory push was always unlikely on the final day, and with rain starting the day, Sussex did all they needed to do by reaching 250.

They now go into the final round of matches knowing that five bonus points would be sufficient for them to stay up, even if they were to lose at already-relegated Worcestershire.

That is barring any unexpected points deductions, and comes before the ECB’s announcement of whether relegation will even be in place this season, however.

While day one of this contest was rained off – alongside seven other matches across the country – due to high winds and rain, the following two days had been engrossing.

Sussex bowled excellently to limit Yorkshire to 194, breaking early resistance led by Adam Lyth (47) and then dismissing six batsmen for single figures.

Jaydev Unadkat (3-36) and Fynn Hudson-Prentice (3-33) particularly impressed with their ability to induce seam movement, while Ollie Robinson, Sean Hunt and Jack Carson all contributed too.

Besides Jonny Bairstow (2) being bowled by Unadkat and Jordan Thompson (a counter-attacking 38 from 51 balls) pinned LBW by Carson, however, every Yorkshire batsman was out caught behind, showing some issues with shot timing.

Sussex then had many of the same issues on a troublesome pitch.

After Daniel Hughes (2) was out in the slips and Tom Haines (20) was the victim of a questionable LBW, Oli Carter (16) fell to some horrible misfortune, with George Hill shelling a catch at first slip, but Bairstow’s right boot flicking the ball back up for a catch.

James Coles (29 from 37) looked fluent but fell on his sword with a miscue to Matthew Revis at midwicket, while others who followed were extremely unlucky.

With the pitch showing the effects of rain throughout the last fortnight, Tom Alsop (36) fell to a horrible Matt Milnes delivery, which barely bounced and crept under his bat.

Dom Bess then found the same low bounce to bowl both Fynn Hudson-Prentice and John Simpson; the former for a patient 17 from 48, and the latter for a game-changing 66 from 136 balls.

All this left Sussex in the lead but struggling for any time to force a result, with the only realistic battle being for bonus points.

Following a period between the scheduled 10:30am start and 1pm when early rain halted any play, finally, after lunch, the players emerged.

While Sean Hunt fell early, a fortunate Jaydev Unadkat inside edge and two well-timed Ollie Robinson cuts brought the boundaries necessary for Sussex to reach 250.

Unadkat then chipped a shot to second slip Bess to give George Hill a fourth wicket of the innings, and the day’s most important business was done.

Both Sussex and Yorkshire had another point to their tallies, inching them further away from 9th-placed Durham.

With the pressure lifted, Sussex were then able to have some fun.

James Coles unexpectedly opened the bowling from the Sea End, and in his first over accounted for both former Test batsmen, Lyth and Mayank Agarwal.

Lyth was guilty of fending at a straightish delivery to find Hudson-Prentice at midwicket, while Agarwal departed for a duck, outside edging in defence.

The best dismissal of the lot came in Coles’ second over, with the tentative Finlay Bean being spectacularly caught under his nose by Oli Carter, diving at full stretch from silly point.

After the initial madness left Yorkshire 6-3, captain Bairstow and an obdurate James Wharton recovered piece by piece. They soaked up the spells of Robinson and a luckless Unadkat from the Cromwell Road End, and played patiently through the spin of Coles and Carson.

Scoring opportunities opened up more as the trial by spin continued, and eventually Bairstow reached his half-century, to be followed by a century stand.

In between the scoring, both batsmen repeatedly padded up to a ball which was spinning less with each passing over.

Soon after tea, however, further bad light arrived and soon called an end to the match, with the captains shaking hands.

Sussex head coach Paul Farbrace said: ““I think we showed some high quality over the three days of cricket that we played. I thought the bowling in the first innings with the new ball was the best we bowled all season. I thought Jaydev [Unadkat] and Oliver [Robinson] were absolutely outstanding with the new ball, and on another day, we could have bowled Yorkshire out for a much lower total.

“I thought we showed a lot of character with the bat, and the way that we got stuck in and fought all the way through in tricky conditions against an excellent attack was outstanding.

“To start as well as we did in the second innings with the ball, I think we caught one two people by surprise, opening with spin. Part of that was that we thought it would turn and also we needed to get back our over rate.

“It's a shame that we've lost the amount of time we have to the weather, but I think there's been a lot of good things.”