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Report & Reaction: Sussex v Hampshire Men, Rothesay County Championship
Report & Reaction: Sussex v Hampshire Men, Rothesay County Championship
Read the match report & hear reaction from Hampshire Men's Rothesay County Championship match against Sussex at the 1st Central County Ground, Hove
Rothesay County Championship Division One – Day 3: Hampshire 191 and 220 Sussex 159 and 134. Hampshire won by 118 runs.
Hampshire: 19 points | Sussex: 3 points
Paul Weaver, ECB Reporters’ Network supported by Rothesay.
Hampshire recorded only their second championship win of the season when they beat title-chasing Sussex by 118 runs inside three days at Hove.
Sussex, chasing their fifth victory in eight games, required 253 for victory after bowling out Hampshire for 220 and were favourites when they reached 64 for one at lunch.
Hampshire were once again looking to veteran fast bowler Kyle Abbott to do something heroic. But instead, it was fellow fast bowler Eddie Jack who seized the day with figures of four for 36, his best return in his 13th first-class match. And he was well supported by off-spinner Felix Organ who took three wickets.
The sunny conditions favoured the batters, unlike the previous day, but the slight variable bounce in the pitch always offered encouragement to the bowlers and in challenging circumstances Sussex didn’t have a batsman capable of taking the initiative.
Hampshire had started the third day on 206 for nine, a lead of 238, with last pair Abbott and Jack having already added 33 for the tenth wicket.
They added another 14 runs. Sussex captain Tom Haines took the new ball after ten deliveries but neither Jaydev Unadkat nor Tom Price could find much swing or seam movement.
After just two overs from the sea end Price was replaced by Jack Carson and with his fifth delivery Carson dismissed Jack, who was caught just inside the long-on boundary by Sean Hunt.
Sussex started their pursuit amid great tension, with the result of crucial importance to both sides. Every run was cheered by a large crowd who were given free admission. But there was also a large contingent of Hampshire supporters.
Hampshire broke through in the third over when Haines was lbw to Abbott for a duck. But left-handers Dan Hughes and former Hampshire player Tom Alsop swung the match Sussex’s way.
Runs were hard to come by but then Hughes drove Jack for three fours in an over, through the covers, straight and through midwicket.
At lunch Sussex looked the better bet, with Hampshire hopes resting primarily on Abbott. But it was Jack, charging in from the sea end, who swung the match towards the visiting side with two wickets in consecutive overs.
At 67 he had Hughes lbw as the batsman attempted to flick a full length delivery through midwicket, ending a partnership worth 58 runs.
Then, without addition, he had Jack Leaning caught behind for a pair, the ball just carrying to former Sussex captain Ben Brown.
At the other end Tom Alsop was playing with calm assurance. But when he had scored 37, he cut Felix Organ to backward point where Scott Currie claimed the catch. But Alsop didn’t move and he was eventually given not out by the square leg umpire.
It felt like a turning point, but Alsop had added just six runs before he edged the same bowler to Toby Albert at first slip. And in the next over the game turned sharply in Hampshire’s direction when James Coles was caught behind attempting to cut a short, wide delivery from Jack.
Jack struck again in his next over, having Tom Price caught down the leg side. And then Organ struck twice in two deliveries, having Carson caught at short-leg and Dom Goodman caught behind. At tea Sussex were 134 for eight.
Without addition, John Simpson was caught at mid-on off Abbott and Sussex lost their last wicket next ball when Unadkat was caught in the gulley first ball. Sussex had lost their last nine wickets for 70 runs after lunch.
Rothesay County Championship Division One – Day 2: Hampshire 206/9, lead Sussex by 238
Paul Weaver, ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay
Rothesay County Championship Division One: Sussex 159 Hampshire 191 & 206 for 9. Hampshire lead by 238.
South African pair Kyle Abbott and Delano Potgieter made crucial contributions to give Hampshire the chance of claiming their second win of the season in the Rothesay County Championship.
After 13 wickets on day one at Hove the second saw 16 more fall as Sussex were bowled out for 159 with Abbott taking six in an innings for the second time this season.
Potgieter, in his last match for the county, made 55 – the highest score of the match so far – to lead a recovery from 66 for six to 205 for nine at stumps. Hampshire’s lead is 238 but Sussex will feel confident of a successful chase if batting tomorrow is as comfortable as it looked in the second half of today.
They had started only 70 runs behind but within 75 minutes had been bowled out for 159, losing their remaining seven wickets for just 31 runs in 11.1 overs to concede a first-innings deficit of 32.
Abbott was the destroyer-in-chief, taking his Championship wicket haul to 36 during a high-class spell of five for 17 in seven overs.
A canopy of cloud and a sultry atmosphere were perfect conditions for a bowler of Abbott’s skill but he bowled an immaculate length and benefitted from some injudicious shot selection by the Sussex batsmen.
The ball to spark the collapse at Tom Alsop was a good one that angled in and left him off pitch but James Coles was guilty of aiming a big drive well outside off stump and John Simpson played fatally away from his body.
Jack Carson’s off stump was uprooted by a delivery which swung a lot and Dom Goodman was caught at point off a big leading edge.
Eddie Jack rounded things off with two wickets in an over and Abbott finished with six for 49.
Hampshire found conditions just as testing when they went in again. It took them 25 balls to get their first run and both openers departed at the end of a fast-forward session which saw nine wickets and just 47 runs scored.
They were soon 26 for 5 as Tom Price produced a skilful burst which brought him three wickets including Jake Lehmann, who lost his middle and off stumps to one which nipped back through his defences. Former Sussex captain Ben Brown bagged a pair to give Jaydev Unadkat his second wicket during a miserly spell of 10-5-16-2.
Ali Orr began the fightback against his former county with a gutsy 34 including a pulled six into the pavilion in Dom Goodman’s first over, but two balls later Orr nicked to wicketkeeper John Simpson off an inside edge to leave Hampshire 66 for 6.
But then the sun finally burst through and suddenly batting looked a much less hazardous occupation.
Potgieter and Felix Organ put on 94 in 31 overs either side of tea and although Sussex skipper Tom Haines wasn’t afraid to change things up for the first time in the match, bat was dominating the ball.
Off-spinner Carson made the breakthrough. Potgeiter batted for nearly three hours and his half-century might still prove crucial, but he was furious with himself when he picked out mid-wicket trying to drive through square.
Organ (48) was brilliantly caught by Jack Leaning diving to his left at second slip, but Jack and Abbott combined to frustrate Sussex again with an unbroken last-wicket stand of 33 to help set up an intriguing finale.
