Plenty to enjoy from Chris Jordan & Stiaan van Zyl on day two

Runs from a fit-again Stiaan van Zyl and fiery, wicket-filled spells from Chris Jordan will have been high on Sussex supporters’ pre-season wishlist. They got both on the second day of the first-class encounter with Cardiff MCCU at The 1st Central County Ground as the home side built a formidable lead in their second innings.

After Sussex declared their first innings on 480 for nine overnight, Jordan decimated the Welsh students’ middle order as they were bowled out for 203.

Abi Sakande took the first wicket of the innings during a five over spell with the new ball that included four maidens, but Cardiff otherwise weathered the first hour of play with impressive resolve.

Jordan’s extra speed clearly unsettled the batsmen, however, when he was introduced in the thirteenth over of the day. He was unfortunate not to strike sooner, but when Lorenzo Machado miscued to Michael Burgess at midwicket in his fifth over, the floodgates were opened.

That wicket was the first of 19 deliveries from Jordan that brought him four wickets for no runs as Cardiff’s batsmen wilted under the heat of the England man’s searing pace.

Next to fall was Kiran Carlson who was given out lbw as he completely misjudged a delivery that thumped into his shoulder directly in front of the wicket as the Glamorgan youngster looked to duck out of the way of what he had read as a bouncer.

Tom Haines then had Steven Reingold caught behind in the next over, before Jordan picked up Oskar Kolk in the same fashion. Kolk did well to get anything on a snorting delivery that lifted off a length and took his outside edge.

Sam Pearce had no chance either as Jordan brought one back sharply to Cardiff’s captain and sent the off-stump cartwheeling in the direction of the English Channel.

From a relatively promising 48 for one, the students had collapsed to 55 for six fewer than six overs later.

A superb innings from Dan Douthwaite gave some respectability to their card as he crashed 14 boundaries on his way to an unbeaten hundred from 107 balls.

He received decent support from former England Under-19 player, Prem Sisodiya and their 77-run seventh-wicket stand was the biggest partnership of the innings.

That came to an end when Luke Wells bowled Sisodiya for 33 and the leg-spinner had two in two deliveries when Brad Evans also had his stumps disturbed.

🤩 WICKETS! @luke_wells07 is into the attack and gets two in two balls!

Sisodiya is bowled for 33, before Evans is out for 0. Bowled, Wellsy 👏 #gosbts pic.twitter.com/831wUSXJnT

— Sussex Cricket (@SussexCCC) April 1, 2019

Jordan had his tenth first-class five-wicket haul five overs later when Matt Foster was clean bowled by a rapid yorker to leave the Welshmen nine down for 159.

Douthwaite was still someway short of three figures at that point, but some superb hitting and stoic support from number eleven, Jack Gibbs meant that when David Wiese bowled Gibbs for a fifteen-ball duck the Warwickshire-registered all-rounder had his maiden first-class century. His second fifty had come from just 21 balls and he had contributed all the runs off the bat to a 44-run tenth wicket partnership.

Looking to give his batsmen further batting practice before their Championship opener on Friday, Ben Brown did not enforce the follow on. Instead, he shuffled his line up and sent van Zyl to open the team’s second innings with Phil Salt.

The pair had put on 102 in just 13.2 overs and extended Sussex’s lead to 379 when Salt was caught off Reingold’s off-spin for 65 from just 52 balls.

Batting at three, Harry Finch was caught in the deep with seven more added to the total, but van Zyl – looking entirely untroubled by the knee injury that had kept him out of much of last season – made serene progress.

His half-century came up in the 19th over of the innings from 49 balls as he and new partner Brown extended Sussex’s lead.

👏 A half-century for the skipper! @Ben_Brown26 brings up his fifty off 72 balls and that's stumps.

We finish day two 220-2, with Browny 51* and @laggies74 92*. #gosbts pic.twitter.com/JvMLosheDO

— Sussex Cricket (@SussexCCC) April 1, 2019

Brown’s own fifty came three balls before the close of play – a 75-ball affair full of hard run ones, twos and threes, as well as three fours, as the Sussex captain skilfully manoeuvred the ball into gaps in the field.

van Zyl, meanwhile, was in no hurry to reach three-figures; happy to wait until Tuesday to make his bid for that landmark with Sussex in complete control of the game.

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