Sussex 191 (Wells 92, Patel 4-24) and 190 for 9 (Jordan 56*, Brown 53) beat Warwickshire 180 (Robinson 6-33) and 200 (Hobden 4-48) by one wicket
Scorecard
Chris Jordan blasted an unbeaten 56 off just 34 balls to steer Sussex to a remarkable one-wicket win over Warwickshire in the LV= County Championship at Hove.
The England allrounder, who was left out of the first Test against New Zealand, hit eight fours and two sixes, the second of which off Chris Wright sealed a victory that had looked highly improbable when Sussex were 45 for 5 and chasing 190 to win.
But Ben Brown, with 53 from 61 balls, gave them hope and Jordan produced an eye-catching display of clean hitting to leave Warwickshire stunned. Jordan had a reprieve on 44 when Keith Barker dropped a straightforward catch at long leg off Boyd Rankin and he made the most of his luck.
The balance then seemed to tip in Warwickshire's favour in the next over when Rankin struck twice in four balls. Ollie Robinson feathered an edge and Steve Magoffin lost his leg stump to leave Sussex needing 15 to win, with only last man Matthew Hobden to come.
Hobden survived the final ball of the over and in the next Jordan drilled Wright to the long-on boundary before a bouncer sailed high over wicketkeeper Tim Ambrose for four byes. That left Sussex needing six to win and Jordan smashed the next ball from Wright back over his head for a straight maximum.
Warwickshire will wonder how they lost, however. Wright produced an excellent new ball spell before lunch, taking 3 for 20 from eight overs, including both openers Chris Nash and Luke Wells before he bowled Harry Finch for 1.
Sussex skipper Ed Joyce, who had been dropped on nought, fell to the first ball after the resumption for 13 and there was little Luke Wright could do about the delivery from Rikki Clarke as he was caught at second slip off the shoulder of his bat.
Sussex looked doomed but Craig Cachopa rode his luck to help Brown add 58 for the eighth wicket. Brown played his shots from the off, launching Barker on to the roof of a hospitality tent as the sixth-wicket pair began to warm to their task.
Cachopa eventually holed out to long-on when Jeetan Patel was brought into the attack, and Warwickshire skipper Varun Chopra seemed to have made another crucial bowling change when he brought back Rankin and Brown pulled his second ball to Barker on the deep midwicket boundary.
But by then Jordan was finding his range and it was his uncomplicated display of clean hitting on a pitch which continued to offer extravagant sideways movement that made the difference.
Earlier, Warwickshire's last three wickets added 20 runs before they were bowled out for 200 in their second innings. Jordan picked up two wickets but on this occasion it was his batting that proved decisive.
Jordan admitted afterwards the win had helped him overcome his disappointment at missing out on England's line-up against New Zealand.
"It is great to be able to come back to Sussex and make a contribution, especially one like that which helps us win the game," he said. "Obviously I was disappointed not to play in the Lord's Test but you have to get over it very quickly, and it's very satisfying to help us get what was a very special win.
"At 45 for 5 I don't think anyone gave us much hope, but on that wicket you can't really bat with a game plan, you just need to be positive, try and manufacture some shots and ride your luck. But we wouldn't have won without Ben Brown's innings. He set things up and I just went out there and decided to play my shots and it has paid off.
"It was a good three days for me. I got some overs under my belt and scored runs at a crucial time which is great for confidence. I'm looking forward to meeting up with the England boys at Leeds and we'll go from there."
