Sussex 430 (113.4 overs) and 131-3 (15.3 overs)
Leicestershire 328 (88.4 overs) and 232 (80.5 overs)
Sussex (23 points) beat Leicestershire (5 points) by 7 wickets
Sussex eased to a seven-wicket win to complete an early-season double over Leicestershire in the Rothesay County Championship at Hove.
Two lengthy rain stoppages delayed their pursuit of a target of 131 after they dismissed Leicestershire for 232 in their second innings but Sussex rattled along at more than eight runs an over to reach their target in 15.3 overs.
They did, however, receive a five-run penalty from umpires Surendiran Shanmugam and Michael Gough, which was added to Leicestershire’s second innings total, for a level 2 disciplinary offence after Daniel Hughes was caught behind off the first ball.
Between the delays Tom Clark and Dan Ibrahim batted aggressively, especially after a second stoppage.
Both pulled Tom Green for six in the same over while Clark took Ian Holland for a six and two boundaries in the same over, forcing skipper Holland to scatter his fielders in the hope of more rain.
The second-wicket pair added 76 at 8.4 an over before the unfortunate Clark (39 off 30 balls) was bowled behind his legs by Green and Ibrahim bowled through the gate by Ajaz Patel for 48.
By then there were blue skies overhead and James Coles’s undefeated 32 led Sussex to their third victory of the season.
Sussex had set up victory by taking the last six wickets for 73 runs after Leicestershire resumed on 154-4.
They struck in the first over of the day when Jonny Tattersall shouldered arms to an inswinger from Ollie Robinson which knocked back his off stump.
Robinson bowled skilfully again and was also involved in the calamitous run-out which cost Steve Eskinazi his wicket after the former Middlesex man had defied Sussex for more than two hours for 26.
He deflected Eskinazi’s straight drive in his follow through with his boot. But when Eskinazi set off for a run, his partner Ben Cox stayed put, leaving both batters at the same end as Fynn Hudson-Prentice threw in from mid-on.
Green lost his off stump to a ball from Hudson-Prentice that kept low and when Tom Scriven flicked to mid-wicket Leicestershire’s lead was only 78.
But the last two wickets added a further 57 as Ben Cox shepherded the tail effectively. Off-spinner Jack Carson pinned Patel but Cox’s last-wicket alliance with Tom Helm added a further 33 runs before Robinson took the second new ball and had Helm caught behind to finish things off as he and Hudson-Prentice shared six wickets.
Robinson, the Sussex captain, said: “I thought at one point we were going to get stuck with the rain but fortunately the sun came out and we won the game.
“We weren’t at our best but we still got over the line. The players stood up and it showed where we are as a team.
“We can still win games without being at our best. That’s the main thing to take out of this week.
“We had a few opportunities to put Leicestershire out of the game. It’s taken until the end of day four to win because we dropped six catches in their first innings – and when we batted, we let them back into it and we only ended up with a 100-odd run lead.
“If you are going to win Division One, you have to be ruthless. It’s what we’re aiming for but there are a few areas we need to iron out.”
Leicestershire coach Alfonso Thomas said: “If we’d got away with a draw, it would have just papered over the cracks really.
“In Division One, you can’t be off for a session. We worked hard to come up so we can play against the best teams in the country and we are getting exposed in certain areas which is something we need to address. But we are just not being ruthless for long enough.
“From a bowling point of view, we are not putting it together long enough as a unit and with the bat a lot of guys have made starts and not gone on and made those big scores. The fight is there but we have to play our best longer.”
