Sussex race to third County Championship win after Leicestershire and weather attempt to frustrate

Despite rain causing delays throughout the afternoon, Sussex did their job on both sides of the ball to wrap up a significant 23 points by the time sunshine returned in full glory around 5pm.

Ollie Robinson and Fynn Hudson-Prentice, as they have been all season, were excellent with the ball in the morning, both picking up two wickets as Leicestershire’s lower order quickly subsided.

While Daniel Hughes was slapped on the wrists for his response to an early dismissal in the run chase, Sussex knocked off a revised target of 131 runs to win in just 15.3 overs.

Danial Ibrahim, who had come under fire for a tame first-innings dismissal, was the start with 48 off 35 balls, while Tom Clark (39 off 30) and James Coles (32 not out from 21) also contributed.

While a Sussex victory always looked the most likely outcome following an excellent third day, slight uncertainty still hung around in the air. This was quite literal, too, with a definite chill to the sea breeze and grey clouds hovering overhead at the start of play.

Sussex had to hope the rain stayed away, or that they would get the job done before it intervened, as they sought Leicestershire’s final six wickets before beginning their run chase.

As it proved, a fired-up bowling attack had few issues in the overcast conditions.

Captain Robinson showed no mercy, coming over the wicket to strike the top of Jonny Tattersall’s off stump with the fourth ball of the morning.

Despite Tattersall leaving the ball, there was little the ex-Yorkshire player could do as the ball nipped in after pitching outside off.

Remarkably, it was only Robinson’s fifth wicket in the match. His consistently dangerous bowling had undoubtedly deserved more, but fortunately others came to his aid.

Hudson-Prentice stepped up next, sparking a quick trio of wickets with a comical run out in Robinson’s third over.

Stephen Eskinazi drove Robinson down the pitch, but with the big seamer sticking a right boot out, the ball rolled to an onrushing Hudson-Prentice and left the Leicestershire batsmen in all sorts of trouble.

Ben Cox hesitated as Eskinazi came steaming down the wicket, leaving the former Middlesex batsman stranded as John Simpson knocked off the bails.

Hudson-Prentice then dislodged Ben Green’s off stump with a delivery that kept low, and removed Tom Scriven as the all-rounder tamely chipped to Jack Leaning at mid-wicket.

Despite Cox’s attempts to score quickly, Sussex’s ruthless streak would not relent. Jack Carson pinned Ajaz Patel LBW for eight, and after a brief spell of spin from both ends to catch up with the over rate, the new ball sparked the end.

Robinson drew an outside edge from Tom Helm in the 81st over, and Sussex finally knew their target; 125 runs in whatever play remained either side of the wet stuff. Even with the pitch offering variable bounce, that target looked simple.

Leicestershire, and the rain, had other ideas, however.

Fresh off his first-innings 136, Hughes was dismissed by Helm, although replays suggested the Australian may have brushed the delivery with his sleeve rather than the bat.

It was little wonder he was frustrated, but in letting this spill over, he fell foul of ECB Conduct Regulations, being hit with a Level 2 breach of the rules, which includes “showing serious dissent at an umpire’s decision by word or action.”

It became apparent when the players returned after Tea that Hughes’ misdemeanour had made Sussex’s task a tad harder, with five penalty runs added to Leicestershire’s second innings.

This left Sussex, at 8-1, needing 123 more runs rather than 118, and the incoming rain did not help either.

Nine minutes of action was playable after lunch, and another 10 minutes following the first rain delay, with the players only returning for good after tea had been taken.

In spite of it all, Sussex’s younger batsmen took the instruction to play their shots quite literally.

Clark, Ibrahim and Coles all slashed Leicestershire’s bowlers around a widely spread field, with an entertaining spell including a 20-run over off Green, in which the right-handed Ibrahim and left-handed Clark both smacked sixes over the off-side boundary.

Clark fell to a tame shot that dribbled off his pads and onto the stumps, while Ibrahim missed out on a half-century when being done by a loopy Patel delivery.

Coles, though, saw them over the line in double-quick time.

Sussex reached their revised target in 15.3 overs at a run rate of 8.45, seemingly keen to get some limited-overs practice in before the T20 Blast begins in 11 day’s time.

Before then, they have a final game in this opening block of County Championship matches with a trip to 6th-placed Somerset.

Sussex captain Ollie Robinson: “We weren’t at our best this week, but we still got over the line. I think that shows where we’re at as a team.

“We had a few opportunities in the game to put Leicestershire a lot more under the pump and really kill the game. On the first day, we could’ve bowled them out cheaper and dropped six catches, maybe.

“With the bat, I felt that we let them back in a bit. If you want to win Division One, the best teams there kill the game with a 150, 200-run lead.

“From my point of view, we have a few areas there to iron out for Friday.”

Sussex head coach Paul Farbrace added: “I’ve been a bit grumpy all game. I think we missed a lot of opportunities in this game.

“Two years ago, I would’ve accepted this performance as a team that were improving and trying to get better. Now, I think we’re at a stage where every so often, they just need a reminder that we’ve got to keep working hard and can’t take our foot off the gas.

“If we’re more ruthless, I think we should have put the game to bed a lot earlier. That first hour [this morning] was how I think we should bowl. By consistently stringing good balls together on a good line and length, it forced the opposition to make mistakes.”