County lose at Hove

Date: Thursday 29 April 2010

A stubborn knock of 93 from Paul Nixon and totals of 47 from Andrew McDonald and Wayne White could not prevent Leicestershire from slipping to their first LV=County Championship defeat of the season against Sussex at Hove.

County, who resumed 52 behind with seven wickets in hand, were hoping to set Sussex a testing target but Monty Panesar played a key role with three wickets - including those of Nixon and McDonald - as Leicestershire were dismissed for 338.

It meant that 112 runs had been added for the final seven wickets, which was not what Leicestershire wanted. That left a target of 61 for the hosts, who wrapped up victory shortly after tea without loss as Chris Nash and Michael Thornely scored 27* and 29* respectively.

Earlier in the day, Panesar, who has not appeared for England since his batting heroics during the Ashes at Cardiff last year, caused problems and took 3-77 from 29 overs.

Nixon, who was again at his pugnacious best, richly deserved a ton. However, he fell just seven runs short of what would have been a hard-fought century and when he was the seventh wicket to fall with the score on 291, County were just 13 runs ahead with three wickets remaining.

Good batting from White - who has been in fine fettle this campaign - ensured Sussex's stay in the field was prolonged but like Nixon, he fell close to a landmark too.

Leicestershire resumed proceedings on 226-3 wanting to leave Sussex a tricky chase. The team added 15 runs without loss in the opening half-hour as Nixon and McDonald got themselves back in.

Panesar was into the attack for an early bowl and Nixon wanted to unsettle the bowler. He attempted a couple of reverse-sweeps as he looked to knock him off his line and length.

The stand reached 95 with the score having passed 250 but with McDonald approaching his first fifty for the Club, he fell three runs short. The batsman pushed forward to Panesar and got an inside edge to a ball that popped up to Nash, who was fielding at short-leg.

County were still trailing by 27 at that point and Josh Cobb came to the wicket. He was looking to build another substantial partnership with Nixon, who continued to play the anchor role.

With the new ball approaching, it was vital County didn't lose any more wickets. Unfortunately, two fell as the spinners had a major impact on the game. Cobb drove back at Chris Nash to give a return catch and Tom New was then snared in front leg-before by Panesar after opting not to play a shot.

Nixon was still battling away and the new ball was then taken by Rana Naved-ul-Hasan and Corey Collymore as Sussex came hard at the team. However, Nixon is a streetfighter and with White also knuckling down, County were in profit while staving off the threat of the new cherry.

The batter was closing in on a century but was still happy to leave lots of deliveries as he showed great discipline outside off stump.

When Panesar entered the attack, though, he was determined to be aggressive, which had to be the right approach. Had the spinner been disrupted, Sussex's plans would have had to change.

Nixon enjoys taking on the slow men but Panesar was also relishing the battle and got his man just before lunch. On attempting a reverse-sweep, Nixon was trapped leg-before by Panesar and it was a huge shame he did not register his century.

Claude Henderson hung around for a while but he lost his off-stump to Rana after the interval after misjudging a leave. That paired White and Nathan Buck together and they were determined to replicate their fine stand at Derbyshire in the previous game.

White again looked in good form and Leicestershire's leading first-class run scorer struck a mighty six as he progressed nicely.

A blistering cover drive off Collymore moved him to 47 and 300 first-class runs for the season, but just as he was looking set for fifty, the West Indies fast bowler trapped him lbw later in the over.

AJ Harris was bowled by Collymore for one as the innings ended with Buck unbeaten on 8. The duo then opened the bowling but the batsmen weren't hanging around in pursuit of their target.

Thornely scored three boundaries in a row in the seventh over of the innings and Nash then cut through point and pulled through mid-wicket as Sussex continued to be attacking.

The scoreboard reached 46-0 at tea with just fifteen more required to win and the batsmen knocked off the runs after the interval.

It was an excellent all-round performance from Sussex, who showed why they are favourites to win the division. They won Division One in 2003, 2006 and 2007, so this was always going to be a tough challenge for County, particularly without their new skipper.

It should only be seen as a reality check against a very strong Sussex side. The team will learn from the experience and are now looking forward to the CB40 game against Warwickshire on Sunday.