Sussex 361 and 364
Leicestershire 245 and 125-5
Leicestershire trail by 355 runs
Sussex are well positioned to wipe out the 12-point deduction for their financial losses with a win in their opening fixture at Uptonsteel Grace Road, Leicester.
They ended day three with a 355-run lead and Leicestershire on the ropes – their top order back in the pavilion and five wickets remaining.
The visitors set the Foxes a target of 481 and, after 38 overs of the final innings, the newly promoted Division Two champions closed on 125-5.
Jack Carson (85) and Tom Price (73) were shared a stand of 119 for the seventh wicket, helping to ensure Sussex had the advantage. Rehan Ahmed and Ian Holland took three wickets each for the hosts.
Leicestershire could have been chasing a less daunting fourth-innings target after picking up three wickets in the first 10 overs of the morning, leaving Sussex 182-6, only for Carson and Price to seize control.
Ben Green struck in his second over, a lovely delivery that hit the top of the off-stump to remove the threat of James Coles for 26.
Green picked up a second as Stephen Eskinazi held a good catch at second slip to dismiss Jack Leaning, who added just six to his first-innings 13 on his debut.
With the departure of John Simpson for just five in the next over, Holland winning a perhaps generous LBW decision, Sussex’s lead stood at 298. It was a decent advantage but small enough for Leicestershire to consider themselves still in the game.
With a depleted attack, though, it was an optimistic position they could not sustain as Carson and Price responded with a partnership that underlined off-spinner Carson’s progress as a batter and consolidated the good impression already being made by Price since his move from Gloucestershire.
The pair stretched the Sussex lead beyond 400. Carson, who made his maiden first-class century against Worcestershire last May, looked to have a second in his grasp. Being denied by Rishi Patel, a part-time spinner, must have hurt.
Nonetheless, after facing 140 deliveries and hitting seven fours, he had ensured Sussex retained all the cards. Ex-Gloucestershire all-rounder Price swelled his debut match aggregate to 116 with an innings of 10 fours before pulling Holland to midwicket.
With a lead already in excess of 450, a declaration at that point would have seemed reasonable. As it was, Robinson let the innings run its natural course.
Ahmed picked up the last two wickets as Robinson was caught behind reverse-sweeping and Henry Crocombe stumped, leaving Fynn Hudson-Prentice not out on 34.
After tea between innings, Leicestershire faced some full-on aggression, at least at the start of the 38 overs remaining in the day.
Patel, who likes to meet fire with fire, always has the potential to be an early casualty and was again, although not in the way that might have been predicted.
He was run out by a sensational piece of fielding by Carson who saved four on the slide on the long-leg boundary then capped it off by running out the opener with a direct hit on to the stumps as he went for a second.
Before an hour had elapsed, Leicestershire were 52-4. Carson, into the attack after seven overs, had Holland well taken at short midwicket.
Jake Weatherald launched Carson for six over long-on but was soon caught behind slashing at Crocombe, whose next ball dismissed Lewis Hill at third slip, last season’s leading Leicestershire run scorer bagging a pair of ducks.
Eskinazi and Ahmed stemmed the flow of wickets for 10 overs before Ahmed, having moments earlier survived a difficult caught-and-bowled chance off the same bowler, injudiciously gave James Coles the charge and was stumped.
Assisted now by Ben Cox, Eskinazi plotted a route to the close with no further mishap, although Cox, on 16, survived a chance to second slip off Carson.
