County Championship: Sussex denied victory charge on rain-affected final day

Chesney Hughes struck an unbeaten half-century to follow his hundred against Northamptonshire last week

Sussex were denied the chance to force a first victory of the season on a rain-affected final day at Derby.

Just 26.3 overs were possible after the start was delayed until after lunch.

Declaring overnight 277 ahead after the third day was abandoned without a ball being bowled, Sussex found it hard to make an immediate breakthrough.

Billy Godleman and Chesney Hughes (58 not out) gave the hosts a good start before two quick wickets, but bad light brought play to a premature end.

Both sides have drawn their first four games of the season.

Sussex head coach Mark Davis told BBC Sussex:

"It's frustrating as I think there were a lot of good things to take from the game from our perspective.

"We bowled well in the first innings and could've had a little more luck before lunch on the first day.

"I felt as a unit we bowled well and it was encouraging to see some young fast Sussex bowlers out there coming through.

"It was an unbelievable performance from Ed Joyce on a difficult pitch to bat on, it spun and it swung a little bit as well. It's very, very exciting for a player of his age to be able to score big runs and break his first-class record."

On injuries to Luke Wright and Ajmal Shahzad:

"Luke is coming up well in his recovery and we hope to have him ready for the first T20 match on 20 May.

"He's a very important player for us in all formats, but especially white-ball cricket, so it's important we get him ready for that.

"Ajmal is looking good and his side seems to have healed well. He'll train on Friday and we'll see where he is."