County can’t prevent the inevitable as Sussex stroll to victory

Northamptonshire slumped to their sixth innings defeat of the season as Sussex wrapped things up in their LV= County Championship encounter before lunch on the third day.
Steven Crook made an unbeaten 52 but it was in vain as Northants subsided to an innings defeat at HoveSteven Crook made an unbeaten 52 but it was in vain as Northants subsided to an innings defeat at Hove
Steven Crook made an unbeaten 52 but it was in vain as Northants subsided to an innings defeat at Hove

The visitors lost their final seven wickets for the addition of 104 runs after resuming on their overnight total of 80-3 with only Steven Crook, managing an unbeaten 52, and to a lesser extent Ben Duckett (23), offering much in the way of resistance.

The pair put on 51 for the ninth wicket after the home attack had made immediate inroads in the morning but it only delayed the inevitable which arrived shortly after 1pm.

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Steve Magoffin, who had caused the majority of damage in the first innings, picked up 3-28 to finish with the excellent match figures of 8-40 and it was left to Ashar Zaidi to finish things off with the final two wickets.

The result - an innings and 85 runs being the damage - leaves the County 65 points adrift of Lancashire at the foot of the Division One standings, albeit with a game in hand, and 69 from safety although that will increase depending on how Durham fare against Yorkshire.

Next up for Stephen Peters’ side is the home clash with Somerset that starts on Saturday but before that they have a Natwest t20 Blast fixture against Derbyshire on Friday evening.