On Day 2 of the County Championship Division 2 match between Worcestershire and Sussex, Cheteshwar Pujara and Steve Smith saved Sussex. When the two met at the crease, Sussex was in trouble with the score at 67/3 in the first inning.
Cheteshwar Pujara and Smith, who were batting jointly for the first time, contributed 61 runs for the fourth wicket and elevated their team’s total above 100. Smith’s innings saw him score 30 off 57 balls while hitting five boundaries. Josh Tongue’s trapping of Smith in front of the stumps during the opening session of the day’s play ended their partnership.
Cheteshwar Pujara, the captain of Sussex, called Worcestershire to bat first after winning the toss earlier in the match. The Brett D’Oliveira-captained team didn’t get off to the best of starts when Ollie Robinson removed Ed Pollock in the first over alone, costing them their first wicket.
The seamer was unstoppable after that, taking three more wickets in his opening stint to reduce Worcestershire to 44/5 before continuing. Adam Hose and Gareth Roderick joined forces in a 92-run stand after spotting their side was having difficulty assisting them to surpass the 100-run threshold.
For Sussex, Ollie Robinson hits a magnificent 7-fer.
Their alliance fell apart when Sean Hunt fired Roderick for 39. Henry Crocombe later dismissed Adam Hose for 59 as well. Matthew Waite (59) and Joe Leach (53) began a huge 103-run stand with their club on 160/7.
Worcestershire scored 264 runs in the first inning thanks to their heroic knocks. Ollie Robinson picked 7/59 in his 17-over period, making him the major wrecker for them.
In the second inning, Sussex struggled to 67/3 before Cheteshwar Pujara and Smith led them to the safety of the shoreline after losing Tom Clark (12), Tom Alsop (13) and Ali Orr (34) early in the innings. On Day 2, Sussex was 158/5 at lunch, with Pujara unbeaten at 40* and Oli Carter at 5*.
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