A high-quality seam bowling display saw Worcestershire bowled out for 123 as the hosts fell behind on day one of the Rothesay County Championship clash against Sussex.
A mature and defiant knock from Dan Lategan saw him top-score with 41, but the loss of regular wickets hindered the home side’s progress.
33 from Matthew Waite and a 22-run cameo from Gareth Roderick cobbled together some crucial middle-order runs, before the Pears were dismissed in the 35th over of the day.
Ben Allison’s sensational three wicket burst gave the home side hope in the early exchanges, but Sussex seized the momentum into the evening session, ending the day 228-5.
Fresh off Saturday’s historic day at Trent Bridge, Worcestershire returned to Rothesay County Championship action for the final time this year at Visit Worcestershire New Road to welcome Sussex.
With regular skipper Brett D’Oliveira still missing through injury, Isaac Mohammed was handed a first-class debut for the Pears, whilst Rob Jones came in for the also absent, Kashif Ali.
Returning to action for the first time since Saturday’s One Day Cup final triumph, already relegated Worcestershire were brought back down to earth with a bump, as Ollie Robinson exploded into life taking two wickets in the first over of the match.
Youngster Rehaan Edavalath was caught behind with the third ball of the match, before skipper Jake Libby saw his off-stump sent kart wheeling after facing just one delivery as the former England seamer reduced the Pears to 1-2.
19-year-old Dan Lategan provided a classy counter-attacking cameo for the hosts, stroking the ball through the vacant offside whenever the opportunity arose, but Robinson continued his unrelenting start to the morning claiming two further scalps.
First-class debutant Isaac Mohammed was the third wicket to fall as the 17-year-old was pinned LBW, with the side’s turgid opening hour rounded off with the dismissal of Rob Jones who suffered the same fate, leaving his side 36-4.
Lategan’s fine run of recent form shone through for the hosts however, as his confident and positive approach saw him take the attack to the Sussex bowling unit through the autumnal sunshine.
Another quick double blow deepened the problems for Worcestershire however, with Gareth Roderick (22) caught behind after an encouraging start to his innings, before Robinson collected his fifth wicket of an impressive spell by removing the key man, Lategan, who had shown real maturity and composure for his 41.
Robinson almost secured his sixth wicket on a morning session dominated by the bowlers, but the umpires were not convinced John Simpson had held onto a rebound catch behind, as lunch was taken with Worcestershire 91-6.
Unadkat picked up where he left off after the resumption as Ethan Brookes became his second victim with a regulation catch provided to James Coles at slip.
The last three Worcestershire wickets fell for just 12-runs, as Matthew Waite’s dismissal for 30 signalled the end of the hosts’ innings for 123, Ollie Robinson finishing with figures of 6-68.
The Pears hit back early on in the reply, with Ben Allison leading the way in an inspired early spell, taking three wickets to help reduce Sussex to 67-4.
Allison first had Daniel Hughes trapped LBW when the right-arm seamer angled a ball ball to beat his defences for 24, before Tom Taylor registered his 51st wicket of the season when he had Tom Haines caught behind.
The momentum grew for the hosts, as Allison’s excellent finish to the season saw him take an acrobatic caught and bowled, reaching down low and one-handed to his right during his follow through to see the back of Carter, following it up with a sensational delivery that castled Tom Alsop’s middle stump.
Matthew Waite, Ben Gibbon and Ethan Brookes were rotated as the afternoon session went on, but to no avail as John Simpson and James Coles led the Sussex revival, dominating an afternoon session that saw the fifth wicket pair add 90 runs before Tea.
Both batters moved past 1,000 first-class for the season during the evening session, with Coles reaching his century from 105 balls, before he was bowled by Ben Gibbon as Simpson (62*) helped close the day with the visitors on 228-5, leading by 105 runs as bad light stopped play.
