Hameed falls short of ton but Notts are in control

ENGLAND’S Ollie Robinson increased his wickets haul to seven in the match but Nottinghamshire were in full control at the halfway stage of their LV Insurance County Championship match against Sussex yesterday.

Robinson proved deadly with the new ball for the second time, reducing the Division Two leaders to 40-3 in their second innings.

But after Haseeb Hameed made 94 and Lyndon James 56, Nottinghamshire finished on 284-7, with a lead of 381.

Earlier, Nottinghamshire pace bowlers James Pattinson and Dane Paterson finished with five wickets each as Sussex, who sit next to bottom of the table, were bowled out for 143 in reply to Nottinghamshire’s first innings 240.

To add to their woes, any points take from this match – they have three so far – may be lost, as they stand at minus six on their over-rate.

Nottinghamshire needed just under an hour first thing to take the final five wickets, the key breakthrough coming in the sixth over when Paterson trapped Cheteshwar Pujara with an inswinging ball that was too good even for a player of the Indian Test star’s calibre.

His wicket, ending a partnership worth 71, more than compensated the South African bowler for a chance missed earlier when Archie Lenham, the 18-year-old son of Neil Lenham and grandson of Les, who had battled courageously alongside Pujara, was put down at second slip.

With Pujara gone, Paterson and Pattinson ripped through the remainder so quickly that all five wickets fell for 23 runs in the space of 34 deliveries.

Pattinson removed Lenham for a gutsy 31, the youngster looking disappointed to be given out leg before after the ball rolled away to third slip.

Robinson was strangled down the leg side, prompting Luke Fletcher to appear alongside Pattinson to congratulate him on his first five-wicket haul of the season.

Not to be outdone, Paterson knocked out Sean Hunt’s off stump before having Ari Karvelas plainly leg before to finish with 5-43, Pattinson having taken 5-56.

As on day one of a breathtakingly fast-moving contest, Robinson came up with a superb opening spell as Sussex, trailing by 97 on first innings, made early inroads.

Again, his fourth and fifth overs were productive as Ben Slater, Ben Duckett and Joe Clarke departed in the space of six deliveries, the last two without scoring.

Slater went after a short ball with little chance of controlling the shot and was caught at fine leg.

Duckett was caught behind off an inside edge before Clarke, offering no shot, was lbw to a ball that kept low.

If they had winkled out Hameed at that point, Sussex might have felt they were back in the contest but the sometime England opener, closing on 1,000 first-class runs in a season for the first time since his sensational breakthrough year with Lancashire in 2016, looked in splendid touch.

A superbly-timed straight drive for four in Robinson’s opening over was evidence of that and by the time he pulled Brad Currie to the fence for his ninth boundary he had 50 from 71 balls.

Having seen the back of Robinson for a while, he and James added 138 in 33 overs.

Hameed missed out on a hundred when a ball from Sean Hunt, the 20-year-old left-armer, nipped away to have him caught behind.

In his best spell of the match, Hunt also dismissed James, lbw trying to work him to leg.

Currie removed Tom Moores shortly after tea with another delivery that found the edge and Steven Mullaney, whose 70 was the key innings in Nottinghamshire’s first innings, added another 42 before he was leg before sweeping another 18-year-old, the left-arm spinner James Coles.

Pattinson and Liam Pattersonwhite added 34 before bad light brought the close forward by two overs.