LV County Championship Division One, Horsham
Worcestershire 290 & 331 beat Sussex 265 & 302 by 34 runs
By Jack Bradshaw
A Murray Goodwin century couldn’t prevent Sussex from slipping to their third successive defeat in the County Championship against Worcestershire at Horsham.
The 34-run defeat means it’s now also three defeats in a row in all competitions for Mark Robinson’s men who have slipped to sixth in the Division One table.
Sussex were set a challenging 337 in their second innings for victory and looked well beaten when they slumped to 52-4 after an hour on day four.
A fifth-wicket partnership of 151 between vice-captain Goodwin (122) and skipper Michael Yardy (63) revived their hopes.
But Pakistani spinner Saeed Ajmal showed his class as he took 6-124 to lift Worcestershire out of the relagation zone with only their third County Championship win of the season.
After being put into bat, Worcestershire posted a competitive 290 in their first innings, with Daryl Mitchell, Moeen Ali and Aneesh Kapil all recording half-centuries, while James Anyon took four wickets for the hosts.
In a low scoring match, Sussex could only manage 265 in their first innings as the visitors took a slender lead going into day three.
Monty Panesar took four Worcestershire second-innings wickets, but 68 from Moeen Ali and a spirited 41 from last man Alan Richardson saw the Royals leave Sussex 337 to win which proved to be too much.
The Sharks next four-day game is against second from bottom Yorkshire on Wednesday (17 August) as they look to get their County Championship campaign back on track.
