Sussex 275 (99 overs) and 230 (50.1 overs)
Essex 177 (58.5 overs) and 197-7 (53 overs)
Essex (3 points) trail Sussex (4 points) by 131 runs
James Coles carried Sussex to the brink of victory with an all-round performance that leaves them requiring just three wickets on the final day at Chelmsford while Essex need another 132 runs to pull off an unlikely victory.
The 22-year-old, who bats right-handed and spins the ball with his left, showed just why England had called him into the white-ball squad to play three T20 games against Sri Lanka later this month.
He rediscovered his batting touch with a battling 79 and then continued his sorcery with the ball. His 3-7 in seven overs in Essex’s first innings had been overshadowed by Henry Crocombe’s hat-trick.
But he re-emerged into the limelight to finish day three of the Rothesay County Championship match with figures of 3-65.
When bad light stopped play with four overs remaining, Matt Critchley had almost single-handedly defied Sussex for more than two hours with an unbeaten 63 from 82 balls.
Coles the batsman had been instrumental in helping Sussex set Essex the daunting target of 329 to win in four-and-a-half sessions.
Zaman Akhter had wrapped up the last four Sussex wickets to finish with his best figures for Essex of 4-51.
At the other end, Simon Harmer chipped in with 4-96, including three wickets in 15 balls, the first and second separated by a night’s sleep.
Coles then came out and opened the bowling. With his 11th delivery he had Paul Walter snaffled at short leg off a mistimed hoick.
Sussex could afford to set wide open, attacking fields and Dean Elgar and Tom Westley capitalised with a flurry of boundaries.
But when the pair had plundered 66 runs inside 11 overs, Henry Crocombe revived memories of his first-innings hat-trick by knocking Elgar’s off-stump out of the ground.
Westley tried to reverse-sweep Jack Carson for a third time but only top-edged through to the wicketkeeper and Essex’s top three had departed within 16 overs with 250 runs still needed.
Charlie Allison and Matt Critchley reduced the arrears by 71 in a fourth-wicket stand liberally decorated with boundaries.
Allison had been calmly controlled in his hitting even when he launched successive sixes over Carson’s head and to long-on. But two balls after the second, he dragged the spinner to a diving midwicket.
Harmer kept Critchley company for 13 overs before edging Ari Karvelas to slip. That brought in Michael Pepper who was nursing a badly bruised thumb which had prevented him keeping wicket earlier in the day.
But he lasted just 13 balls before Coles got a ball to turn sharply and disturb off-stump. Coles had a third wicket when Akhter was trapped in his crease for a pair.
There had been almost as much drama off the field as there was on it earlier in the morning. Essex’s deepening injury crisis, with Pepper joining the list overnight, led Essex to sign George Bell from Lancashire on an emergency loan to the end of the season. He was straight into action behind the stumps but was not eligible to bat.
Back on the field, Harmer struck with the 12th and 14th balls of the day after a delayed start due to rain.
John Simpson fell LBW attempting an injudicious sweep and Jack Leaning prodded forward with the ball popping up to short leg.
Carson attempted to disrupt Harmer’s rhythm and three times bounced down the wicket and lofted him down the ground, twice for sixes and once for four.
His seventh-wicket stand with Coles put on 63 runs in just 11 overs before he was the first of Akhter’s wickets, LBW playing around a delivery.
Coles reached fifty by hooking Akhter for his seventh boundary but the bowler hit back when Dom Goodman nudged an inswinger for Bell’s first entry on the scorecard.
Ari Karvelas swung his bat lustily as he had in the first innings but departed when a full-bloodied drive was well held at mid-on. And Coles finally departed after a 125-ball stay to a catch on the long-on boundary.
Sussex all-rounder James Coles said: “It’s not been my best season so far. It’s nice to get some runs finally.
“It’s been tricky. I haven’t had a year like this so it was nice to get some runs on a pretty tricky wicket. It’s good to get back into the swing of it.
“A little run of bad form and you start doubting yourself. That’s cricket for you. I try to keep telling myself I am a good player and try to put all of that doubt out of my head.
“There’s always going to be that guy on your shoulder telling you that you’re no good at the game. Thankfully, I have overcome that.
“My wickets yesterday went a bit under the radar but what Crocs did was outstanding. He’s the last person I’d want to face after he’s got someone out because he gets his tail up. He’s a fast fella. He’s been top class for us all season. It’s a shame he’s leaving.
“We can’t count our chickens just yet. Stranger things have happened in cricket. But we’re quietly confident.
“If we can get this done, it is a pretty crucial game for us. It takes the pressure off us at the bottom of the table and resets our focus on the top again.
“I’m chuffed to be back in the England squad. It’s a great environment. I’m very fortunate to be back in it.”
Essex all-rounder Matt Critchley said: “The game seems to be slightly in their favour at the moment. But we’ve got ourselves in with a chance.
“We need 130-odd so one big partnership could do it for us. That’s the positive side of it. We are still probably behind it, though.
“We just had 15 to 20 minutes on day two when Henry bowled well in that time and that happens. It’s disappointing.
“But even so, we’re still in with a chance in the fourth innings. The guys (higher up the order) have set it up nicely and if we can get a partnership going, we’re still in with a chance.”
