Yorkshire v Sussex (County Championship) : Day Four

YORKSHIRE were left still searching for their first Championship win of the season after Sussex took only 50 minutes on the final day to canter to a five-wicket victory at Headingley on Saturday.

It was Yorkshire's second consecutive defeat and they are now without a win in the competition since they beat Leicestershire at Scarborough last July.

Although director of cricket, David Byas, said there were some positives to come out of the match he accepted that too many batsmen had failed to make enough runs in either innings.

"I thought we bowled terrifically well in the first innings to stay in the match but then we were short of runs again, " he said.

"It is reassuring that in both our defeats against Warwickshire and Sussex there was nothing our opponents did that intimidated or frightened us.

"I am still very optimistic about doing well in the Championship this season. It is a marathon and not a sprint."

Byas also paid tribute to former Pudsey Congs paceman, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan who blew away Yorkshire's second innings with his best figures for Sussex of seven for 62 to give the Pakistani a match return of 11 for 148.

"It was a great performance on a good pitch by Naved, " said Byas.

"He took valuable wickets and made telling contributions."

Sussex started the fourth day on 139 for five, still requiring 54 to win the match, and any hopes that Yorkshire could dramatically turn the tables soon disappeared as Matt Prior and Robin Martin-Jenkins calmly took control, although Martin-Jenkins once edged Matthew Hoggard just wide of wicketkeeper, Simon Guy, and would have been a goner if there had been a slip.

Often in the second innings, Yorkshire either had only one slip or none at all which seemed a puzzling tactic when they had to take the fight to Sussex if they were to stand any chance of winning the game.

Prior, who plundered 124 in the first innings, was again in commanding form and he ended unbeaten on 55 off 90 balls with six fours, putting on an unbroken 62 with Martin-Jenkins who finished with 17.

Matthew Hoggard, who bowled whole-heartedly throughout the match without ever scaling the same heights as Naved, has now left Yorkshire to join up with England for the first Test against Sri Lanka which starts at Lord's on Thursday, but paceman, Deon Kruis, has recovered from his torn calf muscle and should be fit for Yorkshire's Championship match with Kent at Canterbury on Wednesday.

Scorecard

Yorkshire v Sussex at Headingley

Overnight: Yorkshire 272 (A McGrath 80, D S
Lehmann 64; Naved-ul-Hasan 4-86) and 221
(D S Lehmann 87, M J Lumb 69; Naved-ul-
Hasan 7-62). Sussex 301 (M J Prior 124, C D
Hopkinson 65) and 139-5.

Sussex Second Innings
M J Prior not out 55
R S Martin-Jenkins not out 17
Extras (lb3 pens 0) 3
Total 5 wkts (56 overs) 195
Fall: 1-12 2-26 3-64 4-94 5-133
Did Not Bat: L J Wright, Naved-ul-Hasan,
Mushtaq Ahmed, J D Lewry.
Total Bonus Pts: Yorkshire 5 Sussex 6
Gillespie 14-4-27-1. Hoggard 15-0-58-2. Bresnan
11-1-60-1. McGrath 3-0-17-0. White 7-0-18-0.
Lehmann 6-0-12-1.

Sussex (20pts) beat Yorkshire (5pts) by 5 wkts