In their LV= Insurance County Championship match against Derbyshire at Hove, teenager James Coles led Sussex’s comeback with a superb unbeaten century to set up an intriguing final day.
Six overs before the end of play, the 19-year-old achieved his second career century. He will restart play on 101 with a lead of 188, Sussex’s 193 for five.
Before Derbyshire being bowled out for 407 and taking a five-run lead in the first innings, Brooke Guest had become the first Derbyshire wicketkeeper to achieve a century against Sussex.
Before the 19-year-old Coles and another teenager, 18-year-old Dan Ibrahim, reviving Sussex with 113 for the fifth wicket, off-spinner Alex Thomson, who began the bowling, claimed three wickets as Sussex were reduced to 72 for four.
Derbyshire will be unable to bowl the remainder of the innings due to an excessive usage of short-pitched bowling after putting down three bouncers in his fifth over at Coles, which will further frustrate them as their partnership grows. George Scrimshaw had taken five wickets in the first innings.
Ibrahim gave the pair a significant 36, but Thomson, who was always willing to give the ball some air, hit for the fourth time after switching ends and finding some extra bounce to overcome Ibrahim’s hesitant stroke and find a thin edge.
But Coles maintained his position and appeared at ease in the face of both spin and seam. He hasn’t been given a chance and has already hit 15 fours while facing 179 balls. He is strong off his pads and cruel when the seamers over-pitched.
Derbyshire will still be confident in their ability to complete a successful fourth innings run chase due to the pitch at the 1st Central County Ground showing limited signs of deterioration. Thomson, who took four for 47 from 19.1 overs, might be crucial on the final day.
When Thomson removed Tom Alsop with his third delivery of the innings, the Sussex captain edged to slip, Suranga Lakmal had already pinned Tom Clark with the third ball of the session.
Thomson next struck another left-hander, Tom Haines, with a delivery that twisted to avoid his defensive shot. Following tea, Thomson held a superb return catch off Oli Carter’s errant drive. Despite Sussex’s difficulties, the calm Coles kept the ship on the right course. Before he was fifth out for 105, Brooke had reached his sixth hundred of his career.
Leus Du Plooy, who scored 53 runs to pass 900 for the season, was bowled around the legs by off-spinner Jack Carson playing back after Brooke and Du Plooy had combined 108 runs for the fourth wicket.
With his 14th boundary, Guest guided Carson beyond slip to bring up his century. However, he failed to capitalize on a reprieve when he was taken down at second slip by Clark, remaining at 105 when he was squared up by Karvelas with the second new ball. The 26-year-old batted for five hours, 21 minutes, and faced 236 balls, but it was still a significant contribution from him.
After Haider Ali was bowled by Henry Shipley in the following over, Derbyshire still trailed by 100 runs with three wickets remaining when Anuj Dal gave an edge to Carter at the wicket.
Thomson and Sam Conners, who both scored a career-high 34, however, combined 51 runs for the ninth wicket before Karvelas came back to dismiss both batsmen for catches in the deep. Shipley had four for 124, while Karvelas finished with four for 64.
Sussex 402 (Hudson-Prentice 63*, Scrimshaw 5-49) and 193 for 5 (Coles 101*) lead Derbyshire 407 (Guest 105, du Plooy 52, Karvelas 4-64, Shipley 4-124) by 188 runs