Somerset 526-8 dec (128.4 overs)
Sussex 236-8 (69.1 overs)
Sussex (1 point) trail Somerset (6 points) by 290 runs with 2 wickets remaining
Daniel Hughes registered his 13th first class century as Sussex battled to stay in the contest against Somerset on the third day of the Rothesay County Championship Division One match at the Cooper Associates County Ground, in Taunton.
A frustrating day of rain interruptions saw the visitors extend their first innings total from an overnight 22-1 to 236-8 in reply to Somerset’s 526-8 declared.
Hughes led the way with 107 off 140 balls, while Tom Clark and Jack Leaning both contributed 31.
There were two wickets each for Craig Overton, Migael Pretorius and part-time left-arm seamer Tom Lammonby, brought on in the final session to claim 2-14, sending back Hughes and Leaning.
Sussex made a solid start when play got under way on time under overcast skies. Somerset’s seamers made no immediate impression and Jack Leach’s left-arm spin was introduced from the River End as early as the sixth over.
It was Overton who made the first breakthrough with the total advanced to 49 when Jack Carson, on seven, chased a wide delivery and edged to second slip where Tom Abell held a good low catch.
Hughes and Clark went on the offensive against Leach, who was removed from the attack after seven overs, costing 39 runs. Hughes brought the hundred up with a boundary to third-man off Lewis Gregory.
The 37-year-old Aussie left-hander looked in good touch from the outset but lost another partner with the score on 105 when Clark, who had struck five fours, fell leg before to Pretorius in the South African’s first over.
Rain then interrupted play for the first time with Sussex 105-3. The umpires ordered an early lunch at 12.45pm and nine overs were lost before the action resumed at 1.50pm.
Hughes went serenely to a 69-ball fifty, with nine fours. But it should have been 118-3 when Leaning was dropped by Abell at first slip off Gregory.
Another opportunity went begging shortly afterwards when Hughes, on 68, got an inside edge off Gregory and wicketkeeper James Rew failed to hold a tough chance diving to his right.
The Sussex pair profited from their escapes to bring up a half-century stand from 64 balls but, before they could add to it, the rain returned at just after 2.30pm.
Showers continued during the afternoon and it was 4.45pm before play resumed, with a possible 32 overs left in the day.
Hughes had driven the ball imperiously at times and the resumption saw him dispatch the first delivery from Gregory through extra cover for four.
A repeat shot off Overton took Hughes into the nineties. With 20 runs added and the total on 175-3, on came the covers again – but this time the stoppage was brief and the game continued at 5.09pm in bright sunshine.
Hughes had a scare on 99, surviving a loud LBW shout from Lammonby. But the same over saw him scamper a quick single into the leg side, receiving the bonus of four overthrows as he celebrated an impressive 133-ball hundred.
The introduction of Lammonby changed Somerset’s fortunes as he sent back Hughes and Leaning in quick succession, Hughes edging to Gregory at first slip and Leaning bowled between bat and pad as he aimed a loose drive into the leg side.
Suddenly, the pressure was on the batting side. When John Simpson departed for six, offering a tame return catch to off-spinner Archie Vaughan, Sussex were 212-6, needing a further 165 runs to avoid the prospect of following on.
It became 213-7 when Charlie Tear was bowled off an inside edge by Pretorius and what proved the final ball of the day saw Fynn Hudson-Prentice fall for 12 to a slip catch off Gregory.
But, with more rain forecast tomorrow, a draw still appears the most likely outcome.
Hughes said: “I’m actually cross with myself because it was my mistake that started the mini slide which has put us in a tricky situation going into the final day.
“The satisfaction of scoring runs in cricket never lasts for very long and we can only blame ourselves for the position we find ourselves in.
“One ball can change the whole outlook of a game. We were batting well when I played a poor shot and there were a couple of bad ones after that as well.
“We haven’t been great as a team for three days. Tomorrow we have got to turn up and show a bit a steel and fight.”
