Sussex CCC v Yorkshire CCC: Wickets tumble in nip-and-tuck battle

Yorkshire won the toss and chose to bat in pleasant sunshine, which lasted for much of the day before it clouded over in late afternoon. They were bowled out for 194 just after tea, opener Adam Lyth top-scoring with 47 and Jordan Thompson contributing 38 from the No 9 position, before Sussex reached 84-4 in a nip-and-tuck battle.

Lyth, who shared in an opening stand of 69 with Fin Bean that was the highest of the day, said: "It’s not been our best performance with the bat, but I think our bowlers hit good lines and lengths and we’ve caused them problems to get them four-down.

"On the whole it’s a pretty decent wicket, and there’s just enough in there. The slowness of the wicket can sometimes draw you in as batters, but no excuses – we’ve not batted well enough. Hopefully it’s overcast tomorrow and we can put the ball in the right areas and make more inroads.”

Before a sparse crowd at County Ground, with most spectators dressed for autumn, Yorkshire began slowly but with few alarms on a pitch that played well. Ollie Robinson, the former Yorkshire pace bowler, and Jaydev Unadkat, the Indian seamer, were accurate from the Cromwell Road End and Sea End respectively, and Lyth and Bean suitably watchful with the first boundary not arriving for 35 minutes.

Robinson, always a wholehearted and competitive figure, was convinced that he twice had Lyth caught behind early in the piece, although replays seemed to suggest otherwise.

To the second rejection by Jack Shantry, the umpire, Robinson kicked the turf in frustration, a petulant gesture that may attract the attention of the match referee.

It was that sort of morning for Sussex, who did not really look like taking a wicket until both openers got themselves out just before lunch.

Bean, having played well down the ground and square on the offside, aimed a firm cut at Fynn Hudson-Prentice and was caught behind, lingering momentarily at the crease in self-recrimination.

Lyth, too, was annoyed with himself when, to what proved to be the last ball before lunch, he was caught behind driving at Sean Hunt, the left-armer, off an inside-edge, leaving Yorkshire 87-2 at the interval - a situation that would have been worse had Tom Alsop not spilled Mayank Agarwal at first slip off Hudson-Prentice moments after Bean’s departure.

Agarwal, the Indian overseas player who made a golden duck on debut last week, had scored five at the time and knuckled down to make 26 in a shade under two-and-a-half hours. By the time he was eighth out, having faced 87 balls and hit two fours, Agarwal had seen five batsmen come and go in the afternoon as Yorkshire steadily lost their way.

James Wharton pushed at Robinson and was caught at first slip; Jonny Bairstow was bowled through the gate by Unadkat; Matty Revis got a good delivery from the Indian that took the outside edge on its way to the wicketkeeper; George Hill wafted to first slip off Hudson-Prentice, who then had Dom Bess strangled first ball.

Thompson contemptuously dispatched the hat-trick ball to the cover boundary in front of the main scoreboard, the first of six fours in an attractive 51-ball innings by the Warwickshire-bound all-rounder.

He should not have been allowed to get that far, however, having been dropped on four by James Coles at second slip off Hunt before Jack Carson, the off-spinner, had him adjudged lbw playing around his front pad.

When Jack White sliced Carson to slip, Yorkshire had fallen short of a single batting point, Hudson-Prentice and Unadkat each taking three wickets in a spirited comeback by the hosts.

With the floodlights on for the final session, as seagulls circled and scavenged for scraps, the theme of tumbling wickets continued.

White had Daniel Hughes caught low down at third slip by Bean in the fifth over. Matt Milnes - back after a groin injury in place of Dan Moriarty - trapped Tom Haines lbw, and Milnes struck again when Oli Carter edged to first slip, where Hill dropped the catch straight on to Bairstow’s right foot, the ball bouncing up into the wicketkeeper’s gloves.

Coles and Alsop steadied things before Coles gave it away, clipping Hill to Revis at mid-wicket.

It left Sussex 84-4 but only seven more balls were possible before the umpires decided that the light was unplayable, with 13.5 overs remaining in the day, the call-off confirmed around 20 minutes later. All eyes now are on the weather with a result still possible in the game’s second half.