On a day marked with several interruptions caused by rain and bad light, Cheteshwar Pujara notched up his fourth century in as many games for Sussex. Pujara’s delightful unbeaten knock propelled Sussex’s score to 236/3 at the end of Day 3, with an overall lead of 270 runs in the bag.
The Indian veteran came to the crease when Middlesex threatened to make a comeback in the match. Shaheen Afridi and Ethan Bamber had sent the openers on duck each to leave the home side struggling at 6/2.
All eyes were set on the battle between Pakistan’s pace sensation Shaheen Afridi and Pujara. The latter won the competition by dispatching the left-arm seamer for a four and a six early into his innings.
Tom Alsop (66) gave the calm and composed Pujara good company and stitched a 138-run partnership for the third wicket. However, Alsop’s dismissal did not stop the run flow as Pujara continued to ditch his natural style. He is currently batting on 125 off 149 balls only, with sixteen fours and two sixes to his name.
Earlier in the day, Middlesex’s overnight batters, Luke Hollman and Martin Andersson resumed the proceedings with the scoreboard reading 284/6. They reached their respective fifties and looked set to get close to Sussex’s first innings total.
However, Andersson fell on 55 to hand Ollie Robinson his 4th wicket. The speedster did not waste any time and claimed his fifer by sending back Blake Cullen for 1.
Shaheen joined Hollman in the middle and added 30 runs for the ninth wicket. Sean Hunt picked up the latter’s wicket to end Middlesex’s first innings on 358/10. Robinson’s spell was pivotal in handing Sussex a crucial 34-run lead.
Brief scores
Sussex 1st Innings: 392/10
Tom Alsop 113, Alaistair Orr 99;
Shaheen Afridi 97/3, Martin Andersson 88/3.
Middlesex 1st innings: 358/10
Luke Hollman 82, John Simpson 71, Max Holden 58;
Ollie Robinson 66/5
Sussex 2nd innings: 236/3 ( Lead by 270 runs)
Cheteshwar Pujara 125*, Tom Alsop 66;
Shaheen Afridi 43/1