LV County Championship Division One, Hove
Sussex 304 & 187-1 beat Nottinghamshire 145 & 324-9 by 9 wickets
Sussex 22pts, Nottinghamshire 3pts
By Jack Bradshaw
Sussex cruised to a nine-wicket victory against defending champions Nottinghamshire on day three of their County Championship match at Hove.
Sussex posted a respectable first innings total of 304 with 93 from opener Chris Nash and useful contributions from Matt Prior and Rana Naved as England duo Graeme Swann and Stuart Broad shared four wickets.
The hosts dismissed Notts for only 145 with James Anyon taking four wickets, while Rana and Monty Panesar picked up three a piece, forcing them to follow on despite 63 from Samit Patel.
Opener Neil Edwards had to retire hurt with a broken wrist after facing only two deliveries in Nottinghamshire’s second innings, with Steven Mullaney already having suffered a hairline jaw fracture on day two.
A total of 64 off 44 balls from Andre Adams and half-centuries from Patel and Adam Voges took the visitors to 324 when they were bowled out for the second time just after lunch on the third day.
Anyon took 4-104 to take his match tally to eight wickets. Amjad Khan and Panesar also chipped in with two wickets each.
Ed Joyce made an unbeaten 88 to guide the hosts to victory as Notts moved to the top of the table despite suffering their first defeat of the season.
Joyce, who has now passed 500 runs for the season, was ably supported by Nash (57) and Luke Wells (38*) as Sussex recorded their second County Championship win since their return to the top division this year.
Sussex host last year’s runners up Somerset on Wednesday (18 May), after a CB40 match against Derbyshire on Sunday (15 May).
