Sussex 435 (132.2 overs) and 132-0 (36 overs)
Surrey 490 (109.1 overs)
Match drawn
Champions Surrey are still looking for their first win of the season in the Rothesay County Championship after they drew with Sussex at Hove.
Surrey’s hopes of putting pressure on their hosts on the final day evaporated when they lost their last seven wickets for 100 runs in the morning session.
They still took a first-innings lead of 55 after being dismissed for 490 but Tom Haines followed his first-innings 174 with an unbeaten 69 which included nine fours.
And Dan Hughes contributed 49 to an unbroken first-wicket stand of 132 as Haines took his aggregate for the season to 449 and is averaging 89.8.
Surrey needed early wickets to put pressure back on Sussex but the openers cleared the arrears in the 17th over, by which time Surrey had to employ spin at both ends because of the poor light.
The visitors’ skipper Rory Burns bowled three overs and Dan Worrall and Dom Sibley sent down some exploratory leg breaks.
Bad light stopped play at 3.25pm and there was never any chance that the players would return.
In the end the loss of 83 overs during the first three days to bad weather and a pitch which hardly deteriorated ended up frustrating both teams.
Surrey took 15 points and Sussex 14 and both sides remain unbeaten after three matches.
Surrey began the day on 390-3 with ambitions to go past Sussex’s 435 and make it an awkward second innings for their hosts.
But they lost momentum straight away. Ollie Robinson’s third ball of the day stopped in the pitch and Dan Lawrence gave mid-wicket an easy catch without adding to his 107 which came off 111 balls with 10 fours and a six.
Robinson settled into a probing spell of 11-2-42-1 and Jayden Seales gave good support on a pitch that offered more seam movement than had been evident in the previous two days under low cloud cover and with the floodlights in use.
And after conceding 162 runs during the afternoon session on the third day and incurring the wrath of coach Paul Farbrace, Sussex were much more disciplined in the field.
Seales bowled at decent pace from the sea end and was rewarded with wickets in successive overs. Ben Foakes fenced at a ball of good length for 60 then Ryan Patel (29) fatally chased a widish one.
Left-arm spinner James Coles finished things off with the last four wickets. Jordan Clark heaved across the line before the left-arm spinner picked up the final three wickets in six balls.
Atkinson inside-edged a full toss on to his off stump. Matthew Fisher was bowled trying to guide his second delivery down to third man. And Coles completed his maiden five-for when he fired one down the leg side and Ollie Sykes got a thin edge to John Simpson.
It was the captain’s fourth wicket of the innings and ensured Sussex took maximum bowling points, an unlikely outcome at the start of the day.
Surrey coach Gareth Batty said: “It was a tough four days on a very good pitch. The weather intervened which stopped our momentum, especially on the third day.
“But there were some solid performances and we’re probably getting to a nice place where players are starting to hit their straps.
“(The pitch) was what we expected. People started doing it to us at the end of last year – very flat, docile, placid surfaces.
“We’re a couple of bits of ammunition who might help us take 20 wickets down at the moment but that’s no excuse.
“We’ve had our opportunities but you just need to play the perfect game to get a result. That perfect game is what everyone is striving for – we certainly are.”
Sussex captain John Simpson said: “It’s been a really positive four days. We knew it was going to be a huge challenge against a fantastic Surrey team.
“We maybe left a few runs out there in the first innings but overall it’s been a good game for us. Tom Haines’s batting has come on leaps and bounds.
“He’s playing some beautiful cricket at the moment and showing that desire to get some really big scores. He is reaping the rewards for the way he practises and goes about things behind the scenes.
“Him and Daniel Hughes are forming a formidable opening partnership and it certainly helps (batters) three onwards that they can come in when the ball is softer and batting is a bit easier.”
