Bad light brings early end to day two

Bad light brought an early end to a rain affected second day of our LV= Insurance County Championship match against Worcestershire at The 1st Central County Ground.

Jake Libby scored his second successive hundred against Sussex to put Worcestershire in a strong position after play was repeatedly interrupted.

The former Nottinghamshire player’s undefeated 142 - his second hundred of the season - helped his side reach 289 for two, a lead of 69, in the 50 overs possible at Hove between the showers before bad light ended play at 5pm.

Libby’s 125 not out had guided Worcestershire to victory over Sussex in a fourth-innings run chase at New Road a year ago and this effort could be a match-defining performance too as they look for the victory that would keep their hopes of promotion in the LV= Insurance County Championship alive.

It was his 12th first-class century, second of the season and third against Sussex. Against them back in 2014 he became the first Nottinghamshire batsman for 68 years to score a hundred on debut.

It has been a composed and chanceless effort so far, and the 29-year-old got to his century by stylishly forcing Brad Currie off the back foot for successive boundaries through the covers.

Libby had added 195 for the first wicket with Ed Pollock, who agonisingly fell for 98, and 54 with Azhar Ali for the second before Jack Haynes (14 not out) joined him in an unbroken partnership of 40.

Rain was never far away all day though with the floodlights on from the start but umpires Nigel Llong and Hasan Adnan deserve every credit for playing as much as they did when light but persistent drizzle set in during the afternoon.

Apart from an lbw shout by Currie when Pollock was on 45, Worcestershire’s openers made serene progress in the morning session against a Sussex seam attack who could make little headway on a flat pitch.

Pollock took two boundaries in the last over before lunch off Faheem Ashraf to move to 98 but in the second over after the resumption he tried to cut off-spinner Jack Carson and wicketkeeper Oli Carter held the edge at the second attempt. Pollock’s innings included 16 fours and a six.

Carson struck again in his 13th over when he dismissed Ali for 16 as the former Pakistan captain got in a tangle attempting a pull shot and the ball looped off his bat to Tom Clark at slip.

Carson, in his first match after a summer wrecked by knee and ankle injuries, was the pick of the attack despite the lack of assistance from the surface.

He and skipper Tom Haines, who bowled eight overs at a cost of only 11 runs, were the pick of the Sussex bowlers.

There was a 90-minute rain break and when play resumed at 4.10pm only six more overs were bowled before bad light forced the teams off. Sussex will have a new ball available immediately on Wednesday.