Gay confident Northants can rise to challenge and sink Sussex for first win of the season

The County will go into Tuesday’s day three still needing 147 to beat leaders Sussex, and they have six wickets in hand.

The match hangs in the balance though, with Northants having closed day two on 137 for four, with the dismissals of Gay, for an excellent 67, and skipper Luke Procter with the score on 118 a huge double boost for the visitors.

Matthew Breetzke (11no) and Rob Keogh (6no) will resume this morning at Wantage Road, and with Lewis McManus and Justin Broad still to come, Gay believes the match is still there for a Northants side that was bowled out for 97 in their first innings.

“I think we can do it – we’ve still got players who can only bat but take it to them,” said Gay.

“All it takes is one partnership and the opposition starts to panic and try different things, which is what we want them to do.”

The County stayed in the game thanks to the fact they restricted Sussex to 237 in their second innings - a lead of 283.

Procter was the pick of the bowlers, taking four for 45 with Ben Sanderson claiming three for 44, while the star of the first innings, Jack White, only bowled four overs, taking one for 17.

Gay then made the first half century of the match, his 67 coming off 111 balls, to give Northants genuine hope of claiming victory, and he was pleased with his performance.

“The wicket has obviously been in favour of the bowlers and it was nice to play the way I did, trying to put a bit of pressure back on and being positive and trying to contribute towards what would be a great chase,” he said.

“Hopefully that score has really helped because on this pitch even 30s do go a long way.

“I think it has slightly flattened out from day one but I think the weather has really played its part – that’s made it harder for batters to get in properly.

“We were behind the ball a bit after that first innings but the second innings was all about trying to get a platform, having someone to build that with in Prithvi (Shaw - who made 37).

“Obviously to fall with eight or nine overs left in the day is not a nice feeling.”

Sussex all-rounder Nathan McAndrew, who has taken two of the Northants wickets to fall, agrees with Gay that the match is there for the taking for both sides.

“We probably let our foot off the gas a little bit with the bat, we were in a position there to get a lead towards 300 and beyond,” he said.

"We’ve still set them a good total, no doubt about that but they batted well and we didn’t bowl particularly well to start.

“He’s a fine player, Emilio Gay – he looked in good form and when we missed, he hurt us.

"We’ve clawed it back nicely and took a couple of late wickets, which is important, but the game’s in the balance.

“There’s still plenty in the wicket so we know if we get the ball in the right area and put the pressure on, we’ll have the chance to take six more out there. If we can get a couple early, then hopefully we can get on a roll.

“I think it’s just about building pressure. We saw in that last hour when we smashed away at the top of off stump, it was hard for them to score.

"If we can control our line and length, not give them any easy runs, I think it’ll be a tough chase for them.”

Quotes courtesy of Ben Kosky