Head coach Sadler brands batting 'unacceptable' as Northants are shot out for 97

The County looked to be in total control as they dismissed the league leaders for just 143 in their first innings on a green-looking surface, with the fit-again seamer Jack White claiming four for 23, and were then 43 without loss in reply.

But the departure of opener Ricardo Vasconcelos in the sixth over for 33 from just 23 balls sparked a dramatic and chaotic collapse that saw the County lose all 10 wickets for just 54 runs - with Prithvi Shaw making 31 of those!

It means, that the other nine batters other than Vasconcelos and Shaw mustered just 33 runs between them - with Emilio Gay's seven the best of the rest - as jettisoned England pace ace Ollie Robinson recovered from a shocking start to claim four for 42.

Sussex then cantered to 83 for two in their second innings to open up a lead of 129 going into day two on Monday, and Sadler was not impressed by his team's performance with the bat, or in the field, as the County were also guilty of four dropped slipped catches

“We left some extra grass on the wicket, and we knew it was going to create some chances, create some carry," said the Northants head coach.

"To get them 143 all out, we’d have taken that at the start of the day, but we dropped four catches, which is below what we expect. So even 143, it could have been 120, 100 all out.

“And then batting wise, it was just completely way under par, however you look at it just not acceptable really. We’ve fired well with the bat this year, so nobody saw that coming.

"We spoke about being positive and being clear with how you're going to play.

"I mean, we were 40 for one and then 97 all out, so 50 all out in effect of which Prithvi Shaw got 30 of them, so we were 20 for nine. So, it's just not acceptable .

“We’ve fired well with the bat this year, with some incredible numbers next to those batters, but that was just unacceptable on any level, really and that's why we’re behind in the game

"But we're going to get another crack at it, we have to put it right."

Although clearly frustrated, Sadler believes Northants are still well in the hunt for their first victory of the season.

"We can still win this game," he said. "The pitch will flatten out a little bit and get a bit easier to bat on as we have still got some heavy rollers left.

"We have to claw and fight our way back into it with the ball in the morning and then back ourselves to go and chase down whatever score.

"We've shown that we can come from behind and put opposition under pressure and we have to believe and do that again.

“We have to come back in the morning and put them under some serious pressure, and then we have to go and bat a hell of a lot better than what we did."

In Sussex's first innings, White was the standout performer with his first wickets in only his second appearance of an injury-hit season, with skipper Luke Procter (3-27) and Ben Sanderson (2-46) backing him up.

But Sadler was just thrilled to see the club's bowling spearhead back in the groove again.

“We've missed Jack White massively, he's been our leading bowler for the last couple years," said the head coach.

"He’s played one game and then on kind of 50 or 60 per cent, and faded in that game. So, we have missed him.

"We haven't bowled well enough on helpful pitches throughout the season on those games where we've won the toss and bowled."

Play is due to resume at the County Ground on Monday at 11am.

Quotes courtesy of Jeremy Blackmore