Sussex 262 and 344-9 declared
Leicestershire 108 and 221-3
Leicestershire trail by 277 with seven wickets remaining
Sussex are within touching distance of a second County Championship victory of the season after a commanding display on day three against Leicestershire.
Set 499 runs to win, the Foxes reached stumps three wickets down for 221 runs, still 278 away from their mammoth target.
What little hope they have lies on the shoulders of centurion Colin Ackermann, who remains unbeaten on 103. With 16 boundaries, the right-hander was positive from the get-go, thrashing Henry Crocombe for three consecutive fours in the 18th over.
Continuing his assault in the evening session, Ackermann claimed his ton from 144 balls, clipping Crocombe into the leg side.
He was aided admirably by Umar Amin, who battled his way to 61 from 27 balls, which included 13 important boundaries.
Pakistan international Amin took a particular liking to the spin of Jack Carson, whom he cut for twin boundaries in the 48th over, before reaching his fifty with a firm pull off Crocombe in the day’s dying light. He remains 61 not out at stumps.
The three Leicestershire wickets to fall came from a blistering opening stint from Sussex seamers Jaydev Unadkat and Ari Karvelas. The former dismissed opener Sol Budinger lbw for seven, while the latter took two wickets for 21 runs from his 10 overs.
Extracting swing from an otherwise lifeless pitch, Karvelas found the outside edge of Lewis Hill, who was caught at second slip by Tom Clark. He then had the excellent Rishi Patel, who couldn’t clear Cheteshwar Pujara mid-off, and fell for 40.
Tom Scriven was the only Leicestershire’s bowler to seriously impress, taking four wickets for 55 runs in the innings. With two poles yesterday, the seamer trapped both Coles and Carson lbw with a pair of accurate in-swingers.
In the morning session, a fine half century from teenager James Coles took Sussex to 344-9 before they declared the over after lunch.
Beginning the day on 43, the 19-year-old helped himself to five boundaries in his 119-ball 63. Particularly pleasing was the six he dispatched off Rehan Ahmed in the 75th over – dancing down the wicket, Coles cruised to fifty with a languid swing.
Fynn Hudson-Prentice was also impressive. After a steady knock, the all-rounder fell just six runs short of a ninth half century of the season thanks to a dubious low catch by Ackermann at second slip off the bowling of Scott Currie.
After the close of play, captain Pujara said “It’s really important for us to win this game and be in contention for promotion to the first division. It’s a big game for us and tomorrow will be a big day.
“Although we have a young team, everyone is so talented here. It’s just about having that belief and maturity. That comes with experience but I’m just sure and very confident.
“From one end, we’ll continue bowling spin. If we get a breakthrough, then we have an in.”
