Australian Daniel Hughes made 144 as second division leaders Sussex established a strong position on day one against Derbyshire at Hove.
Derbyshire elected to bowl first then saw Hughes and Tom Haines put on 196 in just 36 overs. Haines made 72 and after Hughes departed Tom Alsop hit an unbeaten 69 as Sussex closed on 391-4.
It was just the response they would have wanted after losing only their second game of the season to promotion rivals Yorkshire last week.
They began the game six points clear of second-placed Middlesex and nine ahead of Yorkshire as the two sides play each other at Headingley.
But three of the remaining four matches are at the 1st Central County Ground, Hove, where they have so far won three out of four this season and know the conditions well.
Once again there was a good covering of grass on the pitch which would have influenced Derbyshire skipper David Lloyd’s decision to insert Sussex.
But his seamers, armed with the Kookaburra ball which is being used for the next two rounds of Vitality County Championship fixtures, struggled for consistency, particularly before lunch – and Hughes and Haines cashed in.
It wasn’t until deep into the second session, when spinners David Lloyd and Jack Morley operated in tandem, that the run rate dipped below five an over but by then Sussex had taken control.
Hughes offered one chance on 35 when he drove at Zak Chappell but Wayne Madsen couldn’t hold on to the edge, diving to his right at second slip.
And by lunch the two left-handers had plundered 161 from 28 overs, targeting the short boundary on the scoreboard side.
Hughes duly eased to the ninth first-class hundred of his career just after lunch and it was a surprise when he fell for 144 off 142 balls.
South African Daryn Dupavillon had bowled a wide earlier in the over. He speared another delivery outside off stump which Hughes could have ignored but, instead, under-edged to keeper Brooke Guest.
Hughes hit 18 fours and three sixes but it was a somewhat tame end to an excellent innings by the 35-year-old from Sydney who has already confirmed that he will return to Sussex next season.
It was also the 1,500th century scored against Derbyshire in all formats.
Earlier, Haines departed for a fluent 72 when Chappell tempted him into a loose drive and this time Madsen held on at slip.
After Hughes, Tom Clark, one of the five left-handers in Sussex’s top six, squandered a promising start when left-armer spinner Morley found extra bounce and the edge looped to slip high off the bat.
But by then Tom Alsop was easing to his seventh half-century of the season as he added 66 for the fourth wicket with James Coles who looked untroubled until he played across the line to off-spinner Lloyd.
Alsop has yet to convert any of those fifties into a hundred. He won’t have a better opportunity than when he resumes tomorrow, having so far put on 39 for the fifth wicket with captain John Simpson, who was dropped by Madsen off Dupavillon on 21 late in the day.
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After the close of play, Hughes said: “There was a little bit of swing at the start but the ball was coming on nicely.
“We got away with a few early boundaries and the best way for both of us to play is positively and by showing intent.
“And when we walked off at lunch it was very pleasing to have put the team in such a good position.
“We wanted to start this game well because as a team in the last game (at Yorkshire) it took us a couple of days to get going and if you do that the game is pretty much gone.
“We haven’t won the game yet but we have put ourselves in a good position tomorrow to go and get another couple of batting points and push on from there.
“I did think for an over or two that I might be able to score a hundred before lunch because you don’t get opportunities like that very often.
“But they bowled pretty tightly towards the end of that session. I felt good. It’s a nice wicket to bat on so when we go and bowl we can come up with some plans.”
Lloyd said: “The first two sessions were disappointing. There was a bit of grass on but we thought it was one of those wickets where we’d get the most out of it in the first hour or so.
“But we didn’t really execute our plans although in the last session we pulled it back very well. It was nice to finish with a bit of fight.
“It was one of those days when it wouldn’t have been a bad toss to lose but fair play to Hughes and Haines. They took it away from us in the first session.
“Once we got those two out, we slowed down the rate which was pleasing.”
