Late wicket gives Sussex control over Lancashire

Sussex enter the final day of their LV County Championship match against Lancashire with the brightest prospect for victory after the visitors fell to 203/4 with a lead of just 89 runs.

Lancashire seemed to be going well in the closing stages of Day Three, but the loss of Ashwell Prince (85) with seven balls remaining tipped the balance back in Sussex’s favour.

The hosts added to their overnight total of 321/7 through Ashar Zaidi (66) and Chris Jordan (41) who added 104 runs for the eighth-wicket stand to take the Sussex total to 434.

Prince and Steven Croft (34*) added a partnership worth 91 runs for the fourth-wicket as Lancashire overturned a deficit of 114 runs, but the late loss of Prince handed Sussex the initiative in a match the visitors can hardly afford to lose.

The partnership between Zaidi and Jordan ensured that Sussex would achieve a useful lead, although the precise nature of their scoring was not always clear to spectators due to the main scoreboard switching on and off throughout the morning session.

Zaidi reached his maiden half-century for Sussex in 88 deliveries with a huge six over mid-wicket off Simon Kerrigan, who went on to claim the final two wickets of the innings, including that of Zaidi who hauled out to Croft on the boundary, as he failed to clear the rope for a second time.  

It had been a successful day for Zaidi, who later claimed figures of 2-61 when he removed Karl Brown (29) and claimed the vital wicket of Prince in the penultimate over of the third day.

Shortly after bringing up the hundred-partnership, Jordan became the first wicket of the day when he was run out in an attempt to come back for a second run with the score at 407/8.

The final two wickets fell for 12 runs as Lewis Hatchett (11) provided Brown with a simple catch at short-forward as Kerrigan finished with figures of 3-117.

This wicket signalled the lunch interval and a very successful morning for Sussex, in a fixture which Lancashire need to win to keep their hopes of staying in the first division alive.

The visitors were therefore dismayed to lose Paul Horton for 16 after another promising start by the Lancashire opener was curtailed by a disappointing shot. Horton’s attempt to encourage a delivery from Jordan (1-51) down to third man resulted in a top-edge, which was taken well by Luke Wright with the score at 31/1.

With just 56 second-innings runs on the board, Lancashire lost their second wicket as Usman Khawaja (20) failed to progress beyond a similarly promising start with the bat, edging to Michael Yardy at second slip off Steve Magoffin (1-28).

Karl Brown responded well after failing to contribute in the first innings and struck five fours in his innings of 29 before he became the third Lancashire batsmen to fall after playing themselves in, nicking behind to his namesake, Ben just before tea.

Lancashire had reached 111-3 and were still three runs shy of forcing Sussex to bat again, but were able to depend on their South-African international, as Prince saw the visitors to tea with a slender lead of two runs.

He and Croft preserved after the break to take Lancashire’s lead to a much more significant figure, as Prince progressed patiently to reach his third half-century of the Championship campaign in 92 balls.

The pair continued to offer no respite to Sussex, but the late decision to move Chris Nash in at short-forward proved dividend as he held on to a close catch to remove Prince with just seven deliveries left in the day.