Leicestershire 210 and 195-5 Sussex 450
Teenage leg-spinner Archie Lenham took three quick wickets as Sussex finished the third day of their LV Insurance County Championship fixture against Leicestershire within reach of a first first-class victory since April last year.
Lenham took three wickets for eight runs in three overs after the Foxes, needing 240 to make Sussex bat again, were making solid progress in reaching 94-1 in their second innings, with opener Hassan Azad having passed 50 for the fourth time this season.
With tea approaching Sussex skipper Tom Haines threw the ball to Lenham, and the 17-year-old struck with his third delivery, having Azad leg before on the back foot.
Two overs later he bowled Leicestershire captain Colin Ackermann with a ball that dipped and left the batsman to clip the top of off-stump.
And his next delivery secured another leg before decision against Lewis Hill as the new batter pushed forward.
Had Delray Rawlins been able to hold a skied pull from Rishi Patel at square leg off Henry Crocombe shortly after tea, a three-day win might have been in prospect.
As it was Patel faced 201 deliveries in battling through to the close on 67 not out, with Leicestershire still hopeful of setting the visitors some sort of second innings target on a pitch starting to take spin.
The morning session saw the Sussex lower order add 64 to their side’s overnight score, though Leicestershire had only themselves to blame for Ollie Robinson – recovered from illness caused by food poisoning – reaching 26 before being run out by Ackermann.
He was dropped off consecutive deliveries when he was on just 7 – first by Patel, at second slip, grassing a straightforward edge off Ben Mike, and then Lewis Hill, running in from third man, failing to hang on to a top edge.
Another top edge, this time off Lenham, was held by wicket-keeper Harry Swindells, the 17-year-old falling two short of what would have been a maiden half-century.
But Aaron Beard and Henry Crocombe added 27 for the ninth wicket before Crocombe holed out to long-on and Beard lost his middle stump to a Wiaan Mulder yorker.
Leicestershire, who suffered three run-outs in the first innings in their previous match against Glamorgan, and another in their first innings here, very nearly made it five.
Sam Evans, having pushed a delivery in Robinson’s opening over back past the bowler, inexplicably attempted a quick single Had Beard’s throw from mid-off hit the stumps, the Leicestershire opener would have been yards short.
Evans went quickly after lunch, leg before on the back foot to Crocombe, but Azad and Patel played solidly – at least until Lenham took a hand.
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Sussex bowler Archie Lenham said: “Two PBs so a good day for me, luckily, though I was a bit annoyed to get out on 48. But never mind. I had a dream start with the ball and those three wickets got us right back in the game.
“I felt Azad’s wicket was key, because he was playing really well, and to then get two in two was really nice because it’s still basically a very nice pitch to bat on. There is a little bit of turn though, for Delray (Rawlins) and me.
“I just feel lucky to be playing first-class cricket early in my career, and I’m loving it. That said, it feels like a long day and I’m pretty tired right now, but basically loving every second of it.
“They’re still 45 behind and even if they get a lead, the pitch is still nice to bat on and we’d hope to chase it down.”
Leicestershire batter Rishi Patel said: “We just have to get our heads down and bat tomorrow and see where it takes us. I enjoy batting with Hassan (Azad) and we built a useful partnership for the second wicket.
“Lenham looks to be a very useful bowler. He got into a nice rhythm and his wickets put us on the back foot but I tried to be positive against him. And once mid off and mid on were back, I found it a little easier to score against him.
“It’s good to have batted 200 balls for the first time, albeit with one bit of good luck, and I’ll try and do the same tomorrow. Our lower order has made good runs this season. We bat deep so there’s a lot of cricket left to play in this game.”
