Leicestershire 210, Sussex 39-1
Sussex overcame the loss of England seamer Ollie Robinson to food poisoning and dismissed Leicestershire for just 210.
The home side’s captain Colin Ackermann chose to bat first on a good if dry pitch at the Upton Steel County Ground in Leicester.
Robinson managed just a single over at half pace before leaving the field but the Sussex attack responded impressively to adversity, bowling tightly and taking advantage of the lack of confidence in the Leicestershire batting line-up.
Henry Crocombe and Aaron Beard both took three wickets and there were two victims for left-arm spinner Delroy Rawlins.
It took a battling display for Leicestershire’s lower order to secure a single batting bonus point for the hosts who in their six first innings this season have passed 300 only once.
Left-arm spinner Callum Parkinson did strike in the final over, having Sussex opener Tom Alsop caught at slip to give Leicestershire hope going forward.
Ackermann and batter Lewis Hill came back into the Leicestershire side, having recovered from a bruised hand and fractured thumb respectively.
Meanwhile, Sussex were without Mohammad Rizwan because of a family bereavement and loanee Mason Crane, recalled by his home county Hampshire. They were also without Robinson for much of the day after his single very tentative opening over.
It mattered not, as the Sussex bowlers tied down Leicestershire openers Hassan Azad and Sam Evans before Evans pushed at a delivery from Crocombe that he might have left, edging a straightforward catch to Tom Clark at second slip.
Sussex skipper Tom Haines was particularly parsimonious, conceding just five runs in his six-over spell.
But Azad, in partnership with Rishi Patel, looked set to see the home side through until lunch before pushing a delivery from Rawlins into the offside and – having raised an interrogatory hand – being called for a single by Patel.
Given that Azad is not the fastest of runners at the best of times, it was to say the least an ill-judged risk – and Alsop, running from slip towards back point, got his throw back to Rawlins in time to beat the Foxes opener home.
Having seen their side record three run-outs in their first innings at Glamorgan last week, including Azad, Leicestershire supporters found another such dismissal hard to credit.
Matters did not improve for the home side after the interval. Patel edged a lifting delivery from Beard to second slip before Ackermann chopped Haines into his stumps to leave Leicestershire on 104-4.
Hill tried to force the pace, reaching 35 at a run a ball before top-edging a cut at Crocombe high down to third man where Archie Lenham held an outstanding catch a foot or so off the ground.
