Day 1 Stumps:
Sussex’s understrength attack produced one of their best performances of the season to take the first day honours in the LV County Championship match against Middlesex at Lord’s.
An attack shorn of six fast bowlers dismissed Middlesex for 234 after they had been 119 for 3 at one stage.
Sussex could not get through the 16 overs remaining intact, losing skipper Ed Joyce (12) when he was leg before to a ball shaped back into him by Toby Roland-Jones but they reached stumps on 33 for 1.
It was an impressive effort by Sussex, who started the game second from bottom in Division One and are in danger of spending only their third season in the second tier since 2001.
Their season has been blighted by injury. Chris Jordan and Matt Hobden, who had both hoped to play at Lord’s, were ruled out along with long-term absentees Ajmal Shahzad, Tymal Mills, Jimmy Anyon and Lewis Hatchett.
Dawid Malan held the home side together until he was eighth out for 93 but the next highest score was Nick Compton’s 37 as Middlesex found it tough against an accurate Sussex attack.
Steve Magoffin led the way with four wickets and Ollie Robinson finished with three but the surprise was left-armer Chris Liddle, who finished with 3 for 49 including a wicket with the fourth ball of only second Championship game since these teams met at Lord’s in June 2014 when Nick Gubbins fenced at one he could have left alone and edged to second slip.
There was some assistance in a dry, green-tinged wicket, which was used for Middlesex’s one-day game against Nottinghamshire on Thursday, but the home side were guilty of some feckless batting, particularly during a nine-over spell in the afternoon when four wickets fell for nine runs.
Malan and Nick Compton had steadied their side with a stand of 90 in 29 overs after losing openers Gubbins and Sam Robson (6), held in the gully off Magoffin, and looked capable of extending their partnership by taking advantage of a short boundary on the Tavern side of the ground.
Neither had been in much trouble until Compton drove at Magoffin and was held at second slip to spark the collapse.
James Franklin, awarded his county cap at lunch along with Ollie Rayner, was surprised when Robinson dug one in short which he fended to slip then John Simpson (1) was only half-forward to Liddle and caught behind. Middlesex slumped to 123 for 6 when James Harris mis-timed a drive off the left-armer which ballooned in the air to point.
Malan, who had scored a hundred against Sussex five days ago in the Royal London One Day Cup, had watched the drama unfold from the other end and now found a reliable partner in Rayner, with whom 55 were added either side of tea.
Malan had a reprieve on 74 when he was dropped at slip by Ed Joyce off Ashar Zaidi, but he was strong on anything overpitched and played some impressive shots square of the wicket when the bowlers strayed off line.
But the recovery lasted just two balls after tea when Rayner (28) was held at long leg and Robinson and Magoffin moped up the tail after Malan, in sight of a century, was strangled down the leg side by Robinson, having batted for just over four hours, faced 178 balls and hit 12 fours.
Day 1 Tea Update:
Sussex took four wickets for nine runs before Dawid Malan and Ollie Rayner rescued Middlesex with an unbroken seventh wicket stand of 55 as Middlesex reached 178 for 6 at tea on the first day of the LV County Championship match at Lord’s.
Malan had earlier added 90 with Nick Compton (39), who was held at third slip off Steve Magoffin to spark the quick clatter of wickets. Ollie Robinson found some extra bounce to remove James Franklin (1) before Chris Liddle had John Simpson (1) caught behind half-forward and James Harris taken at point for a duck off a mis-timed square drive.
But from 123 for 6 Malan and Rayner, against his former county, steadied their side although Malan had a reprieve on 68 when he was dropped at slip by Ed Joyce off Ashar Zaidi.
Day 1 Lunch Update:
Middlesex recovered from the early loss of both openers to reach 83 for 2 at lunch on the first day of their LV County Championship match against Sussex at Lord’s.
Having won the toss, Middlesex were forced to work for their runs against the new ball attack of Steve Magoffin and Ollie Robinson and it was Magoffin who made the breakthrough on 16 when Sam Robson (6) edged to gully and Luke Wright dived forward at full stretch to take the edge.
Left-armer Chris Liddle then picked up a wicket in his first over after being chosen for his first four-day appearance of the season, when Nick Gubbins (17) was caught at slip as he pushed forward to the left-armer.
But conditions began to improve for the batsmen and Nick Compton (30*) and Dawid Malan (26*) added 59 for the third wicket with few alarms.
