Sussex v Worcestershire: Scores and match report

Match scores (Hove)

Sussex 1st inns: 579-8 dec (Wells 155, Wright 87, Finch 82, Wiese 66, Van Zyl 54, Burgess 46)

Worcestershire 1st inns: 312 (Mitchell 121, D'Oliveira 80; Archer 4-91, Philander 3-72)

Worcestershire 2nd inns: 260 (Mitchell 54, Whitely 53; Philander 3-30, Jordan 2-70, van Zyl 2-44, Wiese 2-51)

Sussex won by an innings and 7 runs 

Day four report

Sussex handed Worcestershire their first Specsavers County Championship defeat of the season after wrapping up an innings victory at Hove.

The Sussex seam attack took advantage of a pitch offering plenty of uneven bounce on the final day to dismiss Worcestershire for 260 50 minutes after lunch and complete their second win of the season by an innings and seven runs.

Sussex looked like winning a lot earlier after taking two wickets in the first five overs, after Worcestershire had resumed on 124 for four - still needing 143 runs to make their hosts bat again.

Vernon Philander produced a brute of a ball that climbed and left Ben Cox, which the batsman touched to second slip.

Worcestershire had added just four runs to their overnight score when they lost their sixth wicket as Jofra Archer, generating good pace from the sea end, nipped one back onto night-watchman Josh Tongue's off stump.

Worcestershire were 128 for six at that stage but seventh-wicket pair Ross Whiteley and Ed Barnard frustrated Sussex for the rest of the morning session as they added 79 in 25 overs.

Whiteley was twice reprieved by Sussex skipper Chris Nash at second slip, first off Philander and then Archer, and both batsmen were struck on the body by short-of-a-length deliveries which rose sharply.

With rain forecast, Worcestershire began the afternoon session confident of saving the game but in the first over after the resumption Stiaan van Zyl drew Barnard (21) forward and a thin edge was taken by wicketkeeper Michael Burgess.

Whiteley went to his fifty, from 102 balls with eight fours, but after adding three more runs his brave resistance ended when David Wiese, armed with the new ball, cut one back off the seam to find the edge.

Philander cleverly held one back and Joe Leach (23) drove to mid-on and the South African secured victory when he had Jack Shantry held at second slip.

Sussex take 23 points to Worcestershire's four following a much-needed win for the hosts, who are looking to claw back the early advantage established by Nottinghamshire and Kent at the top of the second division.

Day three report

Worcestershire are facing their first Specsavers County Championship defeat of the season after being forced to follow on as Sussex took 14 wickets on the third day at Hove.

Replying to Sussex's 579 for eight declared, Daryl Mitchell and Brett D'Oliveira put on 215 - a new first-wicket record for Worcestershire against Sussex - before they lost all 10 first-innings wickets in 30 overs either side of lunch.

Bowled out for 312, they followed on 267 behind and were reduced to 124 for four by stumps - still 143 runs adrift heading into the final day.

Mitchell, having been dismissed for 121 earlier in the day, was one of those four wickets to fall after continuing his impressive run of form with 54.

Earlier on Sunday, the 33-year-old opener had looked to be guiding Worcestershire towards safety when he and D'Oliveira took their overnight stand of 139 past the 200 mark.

During that partnership there was a moment of controversy involving D'Oliveira. Umpire Steve Garratt upheld Vernon Philander's lbw appeal when D'Oliveira was on 71, although the batsman clearly felt he had hit the ball first.

The 25-year-old was making his way back to the pavilion when he was recalled after Garratt had consulted colleague Neil Mallender.

Sussex did not have to wait much longer to finally break the stand, though, and it was to be the prized wicket of Mitchell. He mis-judged a hook off David Wiese and was caught at long leg for 121, a knock which included 20 fours and a six.

It was the third successive Championship match where he has made a hundred and the 27th ton of his first-class career.

That was the breakthrough Sussex were after, and they took full advantage as Worcestershire crumbled.

Wiese struck again when D'Oliveira (80) holed out to deep mid-wicket, then Tom Fell was taken at slip as he pushed forward to Chris Jordan to make it 224 for three.

The collapse really gathered pace after lunch, however, when Jofra Archer and Philander took the second new ball. Archer took four for 21 in 7.4 overs with it to raise his tally of Championship wickets to 23.

Joe Clarke (22) fell to well-judged boundary catch from Stiaan van Zyl after failing to control a pull, Ross Whiteley (three) was yorked and Joe Leach (six) lbw to one which kept low before Archer ended the innings when Jack Shantry feathered a catch behind.

Philander was no less impressive in a seven-over burst which brought him three for 31, picking up Ben Cox, Ed Barnard and Josh Tongue, who was the South African's 500th first-class wicket.

It was an impressive response by Sussex, especially as Steve Magoffin was off the field with an Achilles injury, and their patience when Worcestershire batted again was eventually rewarded.

D'Oliviera and Mitchell had few alarms for 14 overs until the former was brilliantly held by the diving Jordan at slip.

Jordan then produced an excellent spell from the Sea End to have Fell held at mid-on - one of several Worcestershire batsman who had struggled to play the short ball - before Clarke played on and lost his off stump.

Sussex claimed the key scalp of Mitchell six overs before the close when he shuffled across and was leg before to Van Zyl.

Sussex will now fancy their chances of wrapping up their second win of the season on Monday. 

Day two report

Worcestershire produced an excellent response after conceding their second-highest total in matches against Sussex in the Specsavers County Championship match at Hove.

Luke Wells followed his 258 in his last appearance at Hove with 155, Luke Wright made 87, his highest Championship score at Hove for nearly two years and David Wiese a rapid 66 before Sussex declared on 579 for eight.

But Worcestershire openers Daryl Mitchell (85no) and Brett D'Oliveira (43no) prospered after negotiating the new ball to post an unbeaten century stand as they reached 139 without loss from 44 overs at the close.

Chris Nash, leading Sussex after Wright resigned as captain on Wednesday, was able to employ attacking fields but his five-strong pace attack found a slow pitch as unyielding as Worcestershire's bowlers had.

Mitchell survived one scare on 14 when he was put down at slip by Chris Jordan off the third ball after tea to make his sixth unbeaten half-century against Sussex.

He has hit 15 fours and a six in his 85 not out and although D'Oliveira was more circumspect, he gave his partner good support as Nash rotated his seam attack.

Just five wickets fell on the second day, three of them after lunch as Sussex pushed towards a declaration.

Wells and Wright had employed a cautious approach at the start of the day and Sussex failed to claim maximum batting points.

Wells, 139 overnight, added 16 runs in just over an hour before he came down the pitch in Nathan Lyons' first over of the day and lost his leg stump to the Australian off-spinner.

Wright batted with the freedom which had been absent during much of his time as captain and looked on course for a hundred.

He hit two sixes and two fours off four successive deliveries from Ed Barnard before upper-cutting the next ball to backward point for 87, his highest score at Hove for nearly two years.

Burgess lost his off stump to Barnard after lunch for an enterprising 46 but Wiese and Jordan had licence to go for their shots.

Jordan used the slog-sweep effectively to take three boundaries off Lyon in one over while Wiese employed the long handle to hit three sixes and eight fours in his 66 off 53 balls.

Worcestershire skipper Joe Leach, the pick of their eight bowlers, had Jordan (37) caught at wide mid-off to end a stand of 91 in 14 overs for the seventh wicket before the declaration came when Wiese failed to clear long on. 

Day one report

Luke Wells continued his impressive start to the season with a second successive century at Hove as Sussex dominated the first day against Worcestershire.

The visitors, who have won their first four games in the Specsavers County Championship, employed eight bowlers after putting Sussex in but Wells led a spirited response by a side still coming to terms with Luke Wright's decision to step down as captain on Wednesday and who have lost three of their four matches so far.

The left-hander followed up his career-best 258 at Hove a fortnight ago with an unbeaten 139 while Harry Finch (82) and Stiaan van Zyl (54) gave him excellent support as Sussex ended the first day on 339 for three.

Worcestershire bowled tidily enough but Finch blunted their efforts to make early inroads by compiling his highest Championship score before Wells and Van Zyl took full toll of a tiring attack later in the day.

Wright's replacement Chris Nash has struggled this season but looked to have found some form as he helped Finch negate the new ball threat before tamely picking out midwicket when he mistimed a pull off Joe Leach on 22.

But that was Worcestershire's only success before lunch as Finch and Wells, cautiously at first before picking up the pace in the afternoon, added 125 in 35 overs for the second wicket.

Finch's fifty came off 90 balls and having played few false shots it was a surprise when Josh Tongue drew him forward at the start of a new spell and found the edge to slip after Finch had struck 11 fours.

But as the ball softened and neither swung or deviated much off the seam, Wells and Van Zyl settled in to put on 137 in 37 overs either side of tea.

Wells took two off Nathan Lyon, the Australia off-spinner, to reach the 15th hundred of his career and once past the landmark he went on the offensive, just as he had done against Durham.

One short-armed jab from a perfectly respectable Leach delivery outside off stump that whistled first-bounce to the midwicket boundary was the shot of a player in prime form, while South African Van Zyl looked just as assured until he was bowled off an inside edge by Ed Barnard just after Worcestershire had taken the new ball.

Wright pulled Barnard for six to get off the mark and a further four boundaries in an unbeaten 27 while the hugely impressive Wells has so far faced 255 balls and hit 20 fours.