Sussex beat Worcestershire despite collapse

Ollie Robinson has played 20 Test matches for England, the most recent in India in 2024

Rothesay County Championship Division One, Visit Worcestershire New Road, Worcester (day three)

Worcestershire 123 & 287: Libby 72, Jones 46; Robinson 5-74, Unadkat 3-80

Sussex 350: Simpson 129*, Coles 102 & 63-7: Taylor 4-22

Sussex (22 pts) beat Worcestershire (3 pts) by three wickets

Match scorecard

Sussex survived a late fourth innings scare to secure a three-wicket win over Worcestershire on the third morning of their final County Championship fixture of the season.

The final four wickets of the Worcestershire innings fell inside the first 25 minutes of the third morning, as the hosts could only add 16 runs to their overnight total, Ollie Robinson taking his second five-wicket haul of the match.

Requiring just 61 to win, Sussex made hard work of the chase, eventually reaching 63-7 as Worcestershire seamer Tom Taylor finished with 4-22 to end the season with 58 Division One wickets.

The visitors' final flourish saw them secure a mid-table finish, while the Pears' resilient efforts went unrewarded with relegation already confirmed.

Ben Gibbon (13) was the first wicket to fall on a troubling morning for Worcestershire, when he was pinned lbw offering no shot to a Robinson delivery that nipped back and clipped the nightwatchman's pad.

Gareth Roderick was the next man to depart for 27 as the impressive Jaydev Unadkat who claimed his seventh wicket of a match dominated by the Sussex seamers.

Matthew Waite and Ben Allison were dismissed in successive balls as Robinson finished with 5-74 in the innings, and superb match figures of 11-142.

Sussex lost opener Tom Haines for one to an excellent, diving catch at slip by Rob Jones as Taylor opened his account.

A seemingly routine chase was momentarily thrown into doubt however, as Sussex slipped to 28-4, losing Daniel Hughes (16) and James Coles (0) in consecutive overs courtesy of Taylor and Ben Allison, before the former struck again to have Tom Alsop caught at slip.

Worcestershire refused to go down without a fight and Matthew Waite claimed a wicket with his first ball of his spell, with first-innings centurion John Simpson caught by Rehaan Edavalath after mistiming a pull shot into the deep.

Taylor had Oli Carter lbw before Waite struck for a second time with Sussex still requiring three to win as Jack Carson was trapped in front, but Robinson hit the winning runs through mid-wicket to ensure they ended the season with a win.

Match report supplied by ECB Reporters' Network, supported by Rothesay

Worcestershire head coach Alan Richardson:

"Obviously, we haven't won the games that we won last year. But I think certainly at home, we've played the same game probably seven times now they've been close all the way.

"We haven't quite got over the line with Essex here, had a couple of draws, some tight games of cricket, so yeah, that is probably the reflection.

"There's been a real couple of real disappointing performances, but in general, we've gone toe to toe with some really good sides.

Sussex head coach Paul Farbrace:

"It is a lesson that you can play brilliant cricket for a day and a half, then switching off for a short period can really hurt.

"Robbo (Ollie Robinson) was outstanding. He hasn't quite been fully fit this year but when he has been, he has stood up. When you need your best players, they tend to stand up.

"The lads got a bit panicky for that short period after being so good for a day and a half, playing some silly shots, but we held on in the end."