Jaydev Unadkat wreaked havoc in England with a six-fer to deny Leicestershire a historic win over Sussex at County Ground, Hove. Unadkat took a total of nine wickets for Cheteshwar Pujara-led Sussex in his second game in County Championship Division Two 2023. Sussex were struggling to break the partnership between Ben Cox and Tom Scriven but Unadkat’s spell with the old ball turned the game upside down.
Chasing 499, Colin Ackermann led the charge with Umar Amin. They shared a 180-run partnership for the fourth wicket. Jack Carson got the wickets of Ackermann and Amin in the same over to stage Sussex’s comeback just when the new ball was about to be taken. Ackermann scored 136 runs from 190 deliveries including 21 fours. Before getting out lbw, Amin scored 94 runs from 185 balls including 17 fours.
Unadkat got rid of Rehan Ahmed with the new ball. Rehan contributed with 29 runs. Cox and Scriven kept the run chase alive with the 122-run partnership. At one point it seemed like Leicestershire would get over the line but Unadkat managed to get an edge off Scriven's bat. He scored 78 runs from 108 balls. In the next over, Unadkat struck again to dismiss wicketkeeper-batter Cox who scored 58 runs.
Chris Wright did some damage with the bat as well while Scott Currie departed early. Matt Salisbury survived the pace attack but Unadkat got rid of Wright with a yorker from around the wicket to win the game for Sussex.
Earlier, in the first innings, Sussex posted 262 on the board. Leicestershire were bowled out for 108. Aristides Karvelas stood out of the lot with a four-fer whereas Unadkat took three wickets as well. In reply, Sussex posted 344/9 on the board with the help of Tom Clark and James Coles' fifties to set a target of 499 on the board.
Unadkat will be seen in action against Shan Masood-led Derbyshire next starting September 19. This was Sussex’s second win of the tournament after playing nine draws from 12 games and losing one. They are placed third on the County Championship Division Two 2023 points table with 136 points.
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