HOVE (final day of four): Sussex (12pts) drew with Hampshire (10)
A BURST of wickets in midafternoon suddenly and excitingly revived Sussex’s hopes of stealing a ten-point march on Lancashire yesterday with two more rounds to go in the first division. Hampshire absorbed the pressure in the end, so the two leading clubs remain dead level, separated only by the extra win for Sussex that would decide the title if they are still together at the top when the season ends on September 23.
Sussex have a slightly tougher last two matches but are playing with great conviction and Hampshire were rescued, once more, only by the broad bat and unyielding concentration of Nic Pothas, their presently invincible wicketkeeper. At an effective 19 for four with 50 overs left, there had been no doubting their precarious position, but the loss of virtually a day’s play — 91 overs — to rain over the weekend left Sussex with too little time in the end.
That was no more than justice because Lancashire, so often one of the unluckiest counties with the weather, had no chance to bowl out Warwickshire a second time on Saturday, despite having forced them to follow on at Blackpool.
At Hove, the crucial partnership was an unbeaten one of 109 for the sixth wicket by Pothas and Sean Ervine after Robin Martin-Jenkins and the tireless Yasir Arafat had removed John Crawley, Chris Benham and Dominic Thornely in five overs on a pitch that remained true to the end.
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Crawley was caught at second slip off a ball of perfect length, Benham taken behind the wicket driving and Thornely bowled off stump.
The lead was only 45, with 35 overs remaining when Michael Carberry’s determined 61 overs of resistance was broken by Jason Lewry but Pothas and Ervine played Mushtaq Ahmed well to earn Hampshire only two points fewer from a game that they probably needed to win to have any realistic hopes of the title.
Pothas will be almost 33 by the time that he becomes technically eligible for England in November next year. As a former South Africa A player, his loyalties remain divided but he seems to be getting better still: he has now scored 346 runs since he was last out in the championship, as long ago as August 2. Ervine’s fifty, by contrast, was his first of the summer in any competition.
Sussex have only a day’s break before starting their penultimate game tomorrow at Canterbury against the only county to have played exclusively in the first division since the championship was divided in 2000. With only a mathematical chance of third-place prize- money to play for, Kent are likely to feel the rigours of a long campaign more, but after only one win and five draws from their past six games, the onus is on Sussex to win.