Sussex 251 and 142 for 5 (Nash 50, Edwards 4-21) lead Hampshire 392 (Wheater 111, Berg 99, Vince 76) by 1 run
Scorecard
A pumped-up Fidel Edwards made ferocious use of the Hove slope to take four cheap post-tea wickets and give Hampshire every opportunity to achieve their first victory of the season and escape their position at the foot of the table as a consequence.
Hampshire established a first innings lead of 141 thanks to their first century of the season, brought up by Adam Wheater in 82 balls, an innings including back-to-back reverse sweeps, top edges over the slips and some punchy drives. Of those 82 balls, 16 brought boundaries.
Edwards was just as eye catching as the second day drew to a close. Before a ball had been bowled, the West Indian marked his run-up and ran through all the way to Luke Wells, who was busy, head down, marking his guard.
Edwards mimicked the tall left-hander before rubbing his hands in the debris in an almost auspicious fanfare. Still on zero after 10 balls, having been pushed back by some superb short-balls from Edwards, Wells was hesitant in coming forward to his 11th and nicked to Will Smith at third slip.
Machan then miscalculated the pace and length to pull Edwards onto his off-stump before Michael Yardy fell to an lbw decision that he was not in agreement with.
Just as the first audible grumbles were coming from the home faithful, three of their own came and steadied. Ed Joyce and Chris Nash stemmed the flow with 71 for the fourth wicket, before Joyce uncharacteristically flirted with one from Berg through to Vince.
But Nash was then joined by Wright, and both looked like seeing the day off before Edwards was reintroduced in the 37th over and produced a blistering spell of hostile bowling that would have made even the most adept of batsmen question their life choices.
Wright had a short leg, deep backward square, fine-leg and, after top-edging a hook, then also a back-stop for company, as Edwards began pushing off from that nourishing Cromwell Road End. Nash, at the non-striker's end for the first assault, was on back foot when he faced Edwards and was subsequently trapped in front by a full ball that fizzed through the air.
In came Steve Magoffin, unlucky enough to have only taken one wicket, and rueing his luck once more as he had to see off what remained of Edwards' fire. After five balls that must have felt like an eternity, he met Wright halfway down the pitch and punched gloves in relief.
Edwards walked back with him and offered a pat on the back.
They'll meet again first thing in the morning.
Wheater's rapid hundred was seemingly an innings that had been earmarked for James Vince, who reconvened in the morning on 52, added 24 runs and then flayed Matt Hobden to Ed Joyce in the cordon.
He was more than ably assisted by Gareth Berg, who is having one of his best games of his career. He fell one short of his first hundred in four years, urging No 11 Jackson Bird to hurry back for a second, only to find himself a good foot short of his ground with a direct hit from Hobden throwing from square leg.
Together, Wheater and Berg put on a record eighth-wicket stand for Hampshire against Sussex, beating a previous best of 135 set by Nic Pothas and Shane Warne. The new record, 165, came off 153 deliveries, was superb in the context of this game and, barring a herculean effort from Sussex's lower order, may have already determined the outcome of this match.
It was a pretty wayward effort with the ball from Sussex, who have had to shuffle their pack more than they would like because of injury and availability.
As Wheater and Berg played their respective hands, Ed Joyce seemed unsure who to turn to. Fynn Hudson-Prentice on debut was expensive and, as such, ended up bowling as many overs as Luke Wells - a part-time off-spinner who was bowled ahead of the 19-year-old for four overs when Gareth Berg was fresh to the crease. It was only when Wells went for 35 in those four that Hudson-Prentice was reintroduced. That first over back in the attack disappeared for 12, as a now settled Berg picked him off.
The predicament for Mark Robinson is an unfortunate one. For years, he has cultivated something of a fast bowlers haven at Hove. Like India to gap year students, befuddled or disenchanted quicks have "found themselves" on the coast. The most notable in recent years has been Chris Jordan, whose newly found inner peace has seen him scale to international cricket, hence his unavailability until the end of the ODI series with New Zealand.
Unleashed down the hill from the Cromwell Road End after time on the sidelines at Surrey, with a reworked gym programme and some technical refinement, he is a poster boy for Hove's healing properties, so much so that his friend and former Surrey teammate George Edwards sought his opinion on pastures new, and life at Sussex, before eventually moving on from the Oval to Lancashire. "You look at what he's done there and it's pretty incredible," commented Edwards at the beginning of the season.
Ajmal Shahzad is the latest to experience a renaissance by the sea, on a roll with 22 wickets at 17.86 before an injured pectoral muscle during an impressive spell on day one of Sussex's match with Middlesex. That was back on May 10 and, while it was thought he would be back in two weeks, the recovery has taken a little longer. It is thought that he will make his return in the seconds tomorrow.
Then there's the less fortunate Tymal Mills, diagnosed with a narrow spinal chord just a month into the season which requires constant assessment and a lightening of his workload. Rotten luck all round.
