Farhan Ahmed’s four wickets and another fifty for Haseeb Hameed saw Nottinghamshire complete a comprehensive nine-wicket win over Sussex inside three days at Trent Bridge to go top of Division One of the Rothesay County Championship.
Needing 148 to win after Sussex were bowled out for 278 in their second innings, Nottinghamshire were home and dry in 25.5 overs after unbeaten half-centuries from skipper Hameed (62) and Ben Duckett (59), earning 21 points from their second victory of the campaign.
A doughty 74 from Sussex captain John Simpson, backed up by off-spinning all-rounder Jack Carson’s 43, kept the home side in the field until lunchtime, but Nottinghamshire confidently chased down their target in just 25.5 overs.
Ahmed delivered another stand-out display with the ball, taking four for 54, with Australian seamer Fergus O’Neill signing off with three for 74 in his last match for the county.
With an overnight lead of 64, much depended not just on the experience and know-how of Simpson but also on the ability of the three remaining batters to stick with him as Sussex sought to make Nottinghamshire work for their victory.
In the event, the 36-year-old left-hander found a doughty and productive ally in his overnight partner, 24-year-old Carson.
He and the skipper frustrated the home attack for 96 minutes, extending their partnership to 87 runs before, facing the second new ball, the younger man clipped Brett Hutton straight to midwicket, where sub fielder Freddie McCann had been moved from slip moments earlier.
Carson batted for two hours and 18 minutes for his 43, which contained five fours.
With an important obstacle removed, the Sussex innings fell away quickly. Ahmed, called into the attack with the new ball only 12 overs old, needed just one delivery with it to have Ollie Robinson caught behind.
Left to eke out what he could, Simpson perished in Ahmed’s next over, caught by Josh Tongue in a failed attempt to clear the long-on boundary.
The Nottinghamshire target was heading towards the territory that Sussex felt might have been ‘tricky’ in the overcast conditions of Saturday, but Hameed quickly made it look much less daunting as warm sunshine presented the best batting conditions of the match.
It did not help Sussex’s cause that Jayden Seales, who played his part in reducing Nottinghamshire from 167 for three to 210 for eight on the second morning, slipped back into his wayward ways of Friday evening, handing Hameed plenty of opportunities to give himself a flying start, which he eagerly snapped up.
In his opening two overs from the Stuart Broad End he conceded four boundaries to Hameed, coming back for a third at the Radcliffe Road End to see Ben Slater hammer him for six and four.
Little wonder, when Slater pulled him to be caught at deep square leg in his fourth over, he declined to celebrate.
Nottinghamshire had polished off 67 of their required runs in 14.2 overs with Slater’s dismissal, which only ushered in Duckett.
Five fours and four sixes - all off the unfortunate Carson – as he raced to a half-century in 23 balls - helped him continue to drive the hosts forward.
Hameed’s 50 from 71 balls, was similarly beautiful to watch, and it was the captain who hit the winning run with the result wrapped up at 3.27pm.
