Leach takes five-for but late flurry of wickets helps visitors’ cause at Worcestershire
Worcestershire 186 for 7 (Haynes 47, Ibrahim 2-9, Sarro 2-43) trail Sussex 264 (Carson 87, Orr 52, Leach 5-68) by 78 runs
The 19-year-old paceman struck in successive overs as three wickets fell for three runs in the space of 14 balls. It reduced Worcestershire to 186 for 7 – still 78 in arrears – and capped off another promising day for the inexperienced Sussex line-up made up of no capped players and an average age of nineteen-and-a-half.
Worcestershire openers Mitchell and Jake Libby were given a testing time by Fynn Hudson-Prentice and several edges just failed to go to hand. The opening pair put on 44 in 12 overs before Libby (28) was bowled after attempting to work Hudson-Prentice to leg.
Tom Fell began in impressive fashion with two boundaries in an over from Sarro. But then Mitchell nibbled at a ball from Ibrahim and was caught behind and Fell turned Carson off his legs and was snapped up at short leg.
Worcestershire reached 82 for 3 at lunch and after the resumption both Jack Haynes and Brett D’Oliveira survived chances on 10 and 20 respectively. In between, the fourth-wicket pair played some enterprising strokes with Haynes cover-driving and on-driving Hudson-Prentice for four.
The fluent partnership was worth 76 in only 17 overs and Haynes had moved onto 47 when he was bowled by a delivery from Ibrahim which skidded on and kept low.
After a break for bad light, Sussex seized the initiative with three wickets in three overs – two of them to Sarro before another stoppage. He removed Ed Barnard and D’Oliveira – at second slip and behind respectively – and in between Ben Cox also nicked through to Ollie Carter. The players returned for a further nine balls after yet another hold-up before play was abandoned for the day.