Worcestershire 123 (34.4 overs) and 270-6 (70 overs)
Sussex 350 (65.4 overs)
Worcestershire lead by 43 runs with four wickets remaining
An unbeaten 129 from John Simpson and six second innings Worcestershire wickets kept Sussex in command on day two of the Rothesay County Championship clash at Visit Worcestershire New Road.
It was Simpson’s fourth century of the season as Sussex added 122 runs to their overnight score before they were bowled out for 350.
The hosts started their second innings with a deficit of 227. Jake Libby (72) and Rehaan Edavalath (45) added a century stand for the first wicket to throw the Pears a lifeline.
But six wickets across the second half of the day left Worcestershire clinging on to a slender lead of 43 runs heading into the third day with just four wickets intact.
The home side landed the first blow of the day when Tom Taylor bowled Jack Carson in the first over of the morning.
A 53rd wicket of a remarkable season followed soon after for Taylor as Danny Lamb feathered a nick through to Rob Jones at second slip, to check the visitors progress at 245-7.
Not-out John Simpson registered his fourth hundred of a memorable Division One campaign. He reached the milestone in 138 balls, scoring 18 boundaries in the process, shortly after Ollie Robinson had departed for a brisk 24.
Simpson kicked on as the visitors reached 350 and strengthened their grip on the match. Then Matthew Waite joined the attack and took two wickets in four balls. He dismissed Karvelas (20) and Unadkat (0), with Sussex all out for 350 – a healthy lead of 227.
Simpson finished unbeaten on 129, with his 19th first-class century the standout innings of the game.
Jake Libby surpassed 1,000 first class runs in the County Championship early in the afternoon session as the Worcestershire reply got off to a cautious start.
The shackles were freed by Libby, however, as he moved through the gears with some dismissive pull shots through midwicket as Sussex’s opening bowlers grafted to no avail in the sunshine.
He pressed on in fine style, reaching a third Division One half-century of the season in just 63 deliveries and, with Edavalath, added 113 for the first wicket on a flattening pitch.
Edavalath made 45 and Libby a superb 72 before the pair were dismissed inside four overs of one another, with Edavalath first lbw off a straightening Unadkat delivery.
Libby following soon after, having edged a ball behind to Coles at slip to give the Indian seam bowler his second of the innings.
Ollie Robinson collected his first wicket of the innings when he hurried Isaac Mohammed with a short ball to dismiss the teenager for four.
First-innings top scorer Dan Lategan and number five Rob Jones came together midway through the afternoon to add 63 for the fourth wicket, with the hosts working hard to find a foothold in the game.
Despite making it to the tea interval unscathed, Tom Haines ended the partnership in the 46th over of Worcestershire’s reply, pinning Lategan lbw for 30, with the hosts still 40 runs in arrears.
Rob Jones produced a gritty knock of 46, with Worcestershire heading towards the close at parity, but his wicket and the dismissal of Ethan Brookes (29) handed Sussex back the initiative late on.
Jones said: “It was tough yesterday and just to come out and show the bit of character this morning, I think that’s what we spoke about in the huddle, just to try and get those wickets as early as we could was key.
“It is obviously quite quick scoring, just with the nature of the boundaries being quite small.
“With the bat, I think Rehaan played beautifully. Obviously, Duff (Roderick) at the end there was brilliant, which was great, and Dan’s just continuing to show his great intent going forward. So that was good.
“It definitely flattened a little bit. I think there’s still a lot of good balls in there. It’s quite dented now so if you land it in the right area, it feels like it does a bit.”
Sussex centurion John Simpson said: “(It was) nice to get three figures but Colesy played beautifully yesterday and it was nice to sort of build that partnership and then, obviously, carry on this morning and get to 350.”
He said that it was good to get the extra couple of batting bonus points, adding: “Personally, it was great to go past 1,000 runs and get to three figures and get that third batting bonus point.
“It would have been a better day if they were all out or, you know, seven or eight down, ideally. But, yeah, I thought they played, actually, pretty well.
“It’s got a little bit better, I’d say, but probably not quite as sharp as we could have been in that second innings.”
