Tom Alsop’s 95 and an unbeaten half-century by Oli Carter ensured Sussex had the edge on day one of their LV= Insurance County Championship encounter with Yorkshire.
When rain arrived at the 1st Central County Ground at 5.25pm, with 17 overs of the day’s allocation not bowled, the hosts had reached 275 for 5 from 73 overs.
Sussex head coach Paul Farbrace has asked the Hove ground staff to leave a little more grass on the pitches this season to offer more encouragement to bowlers than has been the case in recent years.
And while there was some assistance for a disciplined Yorkshire attack with the new ball, the Sussex top order largely contributed to its own downfall.
Ali Orr, Tom Haines and Tom Clark were all guilty of misjudgments as, six overs after lunch, Sussex found themselves 124 for 4.
That theme continued as Alsop fell to the second ball after tea in sight of his hundred when he mis-timed a pull off part-time seamer George Hill. Dom Bess didn’t have to move in taking the catch on the mid-wicket boundary.
But Alsop had helped Carter put on 94 in 27 overs for the fifth wicket to tip the balance Sussex’s way and Fynn Hudson-Prentice then gave Carter solid support in an unbroken sixth-wicket alliance of 57 before the weather closed in.
Conditions had been much better when Sussex won the toss under clear blue skies and Haines and Orr added 49 with few alarms. Haines struck Matthew Fisher for successive boundaries through the covers in Fisher’s second over and in his third Orr played the sweetest of straight drives down the slope. Both looked in good touch.
Orr had moved to 20 when he got in a tangle trying to pull Jordan Thompson, the ball appearing to ricochet off his pads and looping up to third slip.
Off-spinner Dom Bess, who took seven wickets when these teams last met at Hove two years ago, was put into the attack at the sea end in the 17th over.
Haines struck him down the ground for six but Bess had his revenge in his third over when Haines (48) was pinned in front playing back to a quicker ball.
Sussex captain Cheteshwar Pujara, who can count Yorkshire among his previous employers, rebuilt with Alsop either side of lunch but Yorkshire appeared to have taken control when they struck in successive overs.
Pujara (17) was only half-forward to a gun-barrel straight delivery from Thompson and Tom Clark (1) was bowled through the gate by Ben Coad.
Alsop and Carter regrouped and then rebuilt the innings as the ball got softer and batting a bit easier, with the fast outfield giving both full value for their shots.
After a circumspect start Carter struck Bess down the ground and through the covers for successive fours while Alsop accumulated with little fuss.
His defence was solid and when the bowlers erred he picked them off, showing particular fluency off his pads and in an arc between mid-on and mid-wicket.
Alsop had faced 152 balls and hit 14 fours when his first error led to his downfall just after tea. But the busy Carter, whose contributions had been crucial to Sussex’s opening-round win over Durham, eased to a 105-ball half-century with seven fours.
Hudson-Prentice played a little skittishly at times but has so far hit five boundaries in his unbeaten 32.
The new ball, due after seven overs tomorrow (Friday), probably holds the key to Sussex’s chances of scoring 350-plus before Ollie Robinson gets his chance. The England bowler is playing the first of four Championship games as part of his Ashes build-up.
