da dobrowin： Completely contrasting finishes to the two teams’ innings have seen Sussexclaim a morale-boosting 26 run win (under the Duckworth/Lewis method) overLancashire in a tense National League match between the sides at Hove today
da heads bet： Staff and agencies08-Aug-2000Completely contrasting finishes to the two teams’ innings have seen Sussexclaim a morale-boosting 26 run win (under the Duckworth/Lewis method) overLancashire in a tense National League match between the sides at Hove today.For large periods of this match, the hosts appeared to be in trouble. Uponwinning the toss, they almost immediately found themselves in difficulty;Ian Austin (1/32), Andy Flintoff (1/37) and Glen Chapple (2/62) allstriking quickly to reduce the score to 64/4. It was only, in fact, when aswashbuckling Will House (80*) and Dutchman Bastiaan Zuiderent (68), inonly his second appearance for Sussex’s first team this season, joined toadd a breathtaking 141 runs for the fifth wicket that there came arestoration.Even then, though, there was no guarantee that Sussex’s final tally of213/6 would prove large enough on what looked a good batting wicket. Thissuspicion received reinforcement when Andy Flintoff (41) and NeilFairbrother (41) took charge of the early stages of Lancashire’s reply,lifting the score to 92/2 in quick time. Two errant shots in quicksuccession temporarily changed the balance, however, and Sussex’s bowlerswere intermittently able to drop on to a more nagging line and length astheir opponents chased a revised target of 219 to win from 41 overs. Thematch again appeared headed in the visitors’ favour as Graham Lloyd (28)and Warren Hegg (20) lifted the score to 142/4 with a flurry of singlesbut, once Robin Martin-Jenkins (2/37) summoned the ability to find a waythrough Hegg’s gate, things began to unravel. Martin-Jenkins and BillyTaylor (2/30) quickly accounted for a further three victims before JamesKirtley (4/45) – having earlier claimed two at the start of the innings -returned to capture another two wickets and put the finishing touches on acollapse which had, by then, seen Lancashire surrender its final sixwickets for the addition of a miserable fifty runs.The loss, one it could ill afford, leaves Lancashire anchored to the footof the Division One table. Sussex, although still fighting its own battleto avoid relegation, has meanwhile gained for itself some much neededbreathing space ahead of both Kent and Lancashire in the same zone.
