Leicestershire 210 and 333-9 Sussex 450
Match drawn
Leicestershire 11pts Sussex 15pts
Doughty resistance, untimely showers and a flat pitch combined to thwart Sussex as Leicestershire secured an unlikely draw in the LV Insurance County Championship fixture at the Upton Steel County Ground, Grace Road.
An eighth wicket partnership of 111 off 275 deliveries between Harry Swindells and Callum Parkinson, along with rain breaks that saw 27 overs lost, ensured the game went into its final hour.
And though both young batters were dismissed, hands were shaken with eight overs remaining and Leicestershire leading by 93 runs in light that prevented Sussex from using their pace bowlers.
Earlier the visitors had looked certain to end a run of 17 championship matches without victory shortly after the start of play.
Teenage leg-spinner Archie Lenham dismissed Rishi Patel with a ball that bounced a little more than the batter anticipated, took the inside edge and was well caught by Tom Alsop at short leg.
Patel had added just one to his overnight score of 67 – and soon afterwards another of Leicestershire’s main hopes of turning the match around, all-rounder Ben Mike, spooned a drive at a widish delivery from Ollie Robinson – the first with the new ball – into the covers for Cheteshwar Pujara to take a good low catch.
At that stage, Leicestershire were 209-7 and still needed 31 more runs simply to make Sussex bat again but Swindells and Parkinson dug in, clearly determined not to give their wickets away.
With little assistance from the pitch, Sussex captain Tom Haines tried all his bowlers, and Robinson reverted to off-spin.
But Swindells, who has been out of form with the bat this season, began to find a semblance of confidence.
Meanwhile, Parkinson, whose previous three innings had seen him score 86 runs and been dismissed only once, bristled with defiance.
Afternoon showers helped the hosts’ cause, and Swindells went to his 50 off 137 balls before failing to keep an off-drive down and seeing Aaron Beard take a fine one-handed catch low to his left in the covers.
Rawlins, the successful bowler, then picked up another wicket when he bowled Parkinson, then on 45, with a quicker delivery.
But the final pair of Chris Wright and Beuran Hendricks held on as the dark clouds once again closed in.
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Sussex head coach Ian Salisbury said: “It was a cracking game of cricket and I’m really happy with how we performed. I wanted a response to the last-day defeat against Middlesex last week and we got that. The weather didn’t help us and they resisted well. We created enough chances to have won it. The ball just didn’t go to hand.
“Losing the overs to the rain was frustrating. It made a huge difference. And if I’m honest, I don’t think it rained that much but the rules are the rules. Then the light closing in … as soon as we couldn’t use the pace bowlers, we knew we wouldn’t be able to bat anyway.
“As a team we’ve improved week on week for the last six weeks and we’re looking to take that into the game against New Zealand. Ollie Robinson wasn’t himself all match after the food poisoning – he just couldn’t perform. The sickness affected him massively. He had two drips on the first day.”
Leicestershire batter Harry Swindells said: “We batted well to see out the game on a day four pitch with a bit of turn. Rishi (Patel) yesterday and then I got to spend time in the middle with Callum, nearly getting us over the line, but Chris and Beuran finished it off.
“We knew we were in trouble losing Rishi and Ben (Mike) early, but Parky has been batting really well this season, facing a lot of balls, and he applied himself brilliantly. I just tried to stick with him and get a bit of momentum.
“I’ve struggled a bit with scoring this season but I found a bit of rhythm and confidence out there. It’s been a frustrating start to the season for me – and for us as a group – and this wasn’t a win but we’ll take confidence from the way we fought today into next week’s game at Worcester.”
