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Day Two

Morning: Friday brought spells of sunshine and spells of grey, as did the action. Things got off to the best possible start as the sixth delivery of the day brought Joe Leach the wicket of Tom Alsop LBW for 13, having had a shout denied off the previous ball. In the following over, Ben Gibbon produced an absolute corker of a length-ball on off-stump that seamed away a fraction, taking Ali Orr's edge and dismissing him caught behind for 34. But that brought the dreaded Smith/Pujara partnership to fruition, and it flourished for above an hour until a generous LBW decision on a ball above the knee and angling down leg gave Josh Tongue the huge scalp of Steve Smith for 30; a decision prompting much ridicule on social media, but in truth a deserved reward for the young man, who'd bowled well and beaten both edges of Smith's bat with the previous two deliveries. James Coles came out with plenty of intent, but a wild swing at an over-the-wicket Gibbon delivery that straightened off the seam saw him inside-edge behind for 14, and a positive four-wicket session concluded with Sussex 158-5 at lunch.

Afternoon: The visitors rebuilt during a rain-interrupted afternoon, and though Matthew Waite coaxed some swing from the ball to beat a slightly awkward push and bowl Oli Carter for 23, it was to be the only wicket of a long and thankless session as Sussex took the lead, going in to tea 271-6.

Evening: With death-and-taxes inevitability, Pujara brought up another effortless century with support from Fynn Hudson-Prentice, whose own fifty came shortly before he played forward to a Waite delivery that pinned him plumb LBW for 53. Ollie Robinson did some quickfire slogging until he holed out for 33 to Leach, and with the lead already into three figures, it was a small mercy that the innings was mopped up quickly; Tongue banged one in with a bit of extra pace and bounce to have Pujara caught behind for 136, and seven balls later Leach trapped Henry Crocombe LBW for 1, leaving Sussex 373 all out with a lead of 109. Facing Ollie Robinson in fading light during a testing nineteen-over period, it was probably somewhat fortunate that Jake Libby was the only casualty to the England man in the final stages, edging the ball to the sixth man in the expansive slip cordon for 5. Ed Pollock and Azhar Ali survived to reach stumps on 34-1, trailing by 75, but Pears fans can be forgiven for hoping that the forecast Coronation Day flood keeps this match on ice until Sunday.