Tom Haines hundred leads strong Sussex response

Sussex opener Tom Haines posted his second century of the season after allrounder Fynn Hudson-Prentice had taken a career best 5 for 50 as their Vitality County Championship match against Leicestershire remained nicely balanced at the halfway stage.

The visiting side closed on 282 for 6 in reply to Leicestershire's 338 all out, trailing by 56.

Haines, who toured with England Lions the winter before last but had a relatively lean season in 2023, followed his 133 against Northamptonshire in the opening round with 108 here, hitting 14 fours and a six. As Sussex dominated the first half of the day, Haines shared a second-wicket partnership of 168 with his fellow left-hander Tom Alsop, who made 49.

But Leicestershire's bowlers performed better as the afternoon progressed and earned a significant late breakthrough when Tom Scriven produced the ball of the day to bowl Cheteswar Pujara for 38 before Matt Salisbury dismissed Hudson-Prentice with the last ball of the day.

The day had begun with Leicestershire adding only 12 runs to their overnight score in losing their last two wickets. That disappointment was eased by a wicket from the first ball of the Sussex innings as Tom Clark edged a decent delivery from Salisbury to third slip but it turned out to be the only positive moment for Leicestershire in the whole of the opening session.

The remainder saw Haines and Alsop largely in charge, leaving Leicestershire to reflect on how much they were missing the unavailable Chris Wright in particular but also Josh Hull, the beanpole seamer who is currently recovering from a side strain.

As the home attack struggled to conjure any response with the Kookaburra, it sharpened the appreciation of Hudson-Prentice's achievement. The former Derbyshire seamer, speaking on the first evening, did not quite declare himself to be a fan of the Kookaburra ball but saw bowling with it as an opportunity rather than a hindrance, reasoning that the challenge was a chance for county bowlers to develop different skills.

He completed his five-for - only the second of his career - in his first 10 deliveries on the second morning. He bowled Liam Trevaskis - admittedly through a yawning gap between bat and pad - before finding an edge to have Salisbury caught behind by a diving John Simpson.

Trevaskis, who has passed fifty eight times in first-class cricket but is yet to convert one to a hundred, did not add to his overnight 82.

Salisbury's immediate success with the ball momentarily suggested that Sussex might have some work to do before they could start eating into Leicestershire's total but in the event, although Alsop survived a chance off Salisbury to Scott Currie at short midwicket on 29, it was not until 20 overs into the afternoon that the second-wicket pair were parted.

Both were out in the space of four overs, Alsop bowled shouldering arms to Salisbury after the two had added 168 at not far short of four runs per over. Haines, having gone to 50 from 63 balls and completed his century from 128, was out to a miscued pull against Currie, the ball looping off a top edge to mid-off, a rather tame ending to an innings that contained 14 fours and six that was for the most part a good watch.

The 25-year-old left-hander registered three centuries in each of his first two full seasons to earn his Lions call-up but drew a blank last season, passing fifty six times without managing to make three figures once.

With the fillip of those wickets, Leicestershire seamers began to bowl better as a collective, than earlier, in particular Ben Mike, repeatedly no-balled for overstepping in his first two spells, who was rewarded with a wicket when James Coles, tempted to go after a short-pitched ball, spooned a catch to mid-on.

They succeeded also in dragging back the scoring rate appreciably, persuading skipper Lewis Hill to delay taking the new ball until four overs after it was due.

A chance to inflict further damage with the old one was missed when Simpson, on 9, was dropped at midwicket off Trevaskis, but when the new one was taken, Scriven delivered a peach of a ball to beat Pujara's defensive bat and clip off stump and Salisbury bowled Hudson-Prentice with one that may have kept a touch low.