Karvelas and Unadkat leave Nottinghamshire clinging to 31-run lead at Hove
Nottinghamshire are clinging on at Hove. They closed day three on 149-7 in their second turn to bat, just 31 runs ahead of Sussex in a Division One County Championship match they cannot afford to lose, according to BBC Sport.
Rain wiped out the morning. Thirty-six overs were lost before play started at 13:30 BST on 17 September. That left little time to waste.
Sussex made first use of it. Resuming their first innings, they were bowled out for 358. That gave them a first-innings lead of 118 after Nottinghamshire's 240.
Clark led the way with 89. Price added 72 in support. For Nottinghamshire, Brett Hutton took 4-59 and Olly Stone claimed 3-81 to keep the total in check.
Sussex had chosen to bowl first after winning the toss, according to the ECB scorecard. It looked a good call by the close.
Nottinghamshire's second innings started badly and finished worse. Captain Haseeb Hameed top-scored with 43, but no one stayed with him for long.
Ari Karvelas did the early damage with 4-34. One of his victims was Joe Clarke, and that wicket was the 32-year-old seamer's 100th in first-class cricket, the top level of domestic red-ball cricket.
It is quite a story. Karvelas put off a job teaching cricket at Solihull School to rejoin Sussex last month. He has paid them back fast.
Then came Jaydev Unadkat. The India left-armer took 3-39, with three wickets in the space of 14 balls late in the day to rip through the middle order.
Unadkat had already taken 4-83 in the first innings. He reached 500 first-class wickets on day one, according to Sussex Cricket. Hutton's 60 had been the main resistance in Nottinghamshire's 240.
The context is tight. Nottinghamshire arrived at Hove for their penultimate match chasing the title, with this also Sussex's final home game of the campaign, according to Sussex Cricket. Leaders Warwickshire have already beaten Essex in two days.
What makes this stand out is the squeeze. Nottinghamshire have three wickets left and only a small lead on a pitch into its final day. For fans, this means every run on the morning of 18 September matters.
Sussex need early wickets to chase something gettable. Nottinghamshire need their tail to wag. The title race is watching.
