County Championship: Sussex on the brink after pace duo shine
With two wickets in three balls from Ollie Robinson, Sussex established themselves as a serious contender for their first County Championship victory of the year.
After bowling 27 overs without picking up a wicket during the game, Robinson was eventually rewarded when he pinned James Bracey and Cameron Bancroft ahead as Gloucestershire collapsed to 27 for four before marginally rallying to 81 for six in the end, leading by just 19 at Hove.
Finally, in his sixth over, Robinson struck when Bancroft played across a ball that cut back, and Bracey, with little to no footwork, was squarely in front of a direct hit.
The ECB is in charge of overseeing Robinson’s workload. His 9-3-21-2 run was his longest and most impressive of the season thus far.
After Gloucestershire had dismissed Sussex for 479 in the first innings, they were once again down by 62 runs until Jayden Seales took two wickets in his opening two overs.
In the first over for the West Indians, Charlesworth drove weakly to a backwards point; in the next over, Ollie Price left a length ball that uprooted his off stump.
After a little recuperation, captain Graeme van Burren and Miles Hammond were hit by off-spinner Jack Carson with his seventh delivery after the latter misplayed a pull attempt.
When Tom Price was stranded LBW in the penultimate over, James Coles took the wicket to give Sussex a sixth wicket.
Before Sussex was bowled out for 479, Cheteshwar Pujara, John Simpson, and Danny Lamb had all reached 50, therefore, it was unexpected that none of them reached the first hundred of the innings.
Pujara made a smooth transition from his 75 the previous night to 86, but he lost his wicket by holding back for a third run.
With Sussex still down by 103 runs, Simpson and Lamb’s methodical stand of 143 in 34 overs tipped the scales in their favour.
After lofting Gohar over long on to reach his fifty, Simpson added eight more fours before misjudging a draw.
Lamb, who amassed a century against Leicester, hit 83 off 116 balls to carry on his strong play. Don Goodman bowled him while he was trying to ramp him over the wicketkeeper in an attempt to force the pace.
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