COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION ONE, Arundel:
CLOSE OF PLAY, DAY ONE: Sussex 330-7 (Sussex 3pts, Hants 2pts)
15 - 18 July 2009

Goodwin's previous best Championship score this season was 22

Chris Nash, Murray Goodwin and Luke Wright all hit half-centuries to give Sussex the edge after day one of their clash with Hampshire at Arundel.

James Tomlinson (3-83) struck twice with the new ball to reduce Sussex to 26-2 and give Hampshire the initiative.

But Nash (57) and Goodwin (65) started the recovery, which was continued by Carl Hopkinson (49).

Wright ended the day unbeaten on 53, with his side on 330-7, while Imran Tahir chipped away to take 3-96.

Goodwin's 65 would have come as a relief to the former Zimbabwe international, who has struggled for form in the four-day game this season.

His previous 11 innings had brought him just 186 runs, with a top score of 22.

606: DEBATE Advantage Sussex, runs on the board QPRJAMES79

But he also had a slice of good fortune in making his first Championship half-century of the season, Michael Lumb dropping him at slip off Dominic Cork.

It did not prove that expensive a drop as Dimitri Mascarenhas had him caught low down at cover to end a stand of 91 with Hopkinson, who was caught by wicketkeeper Tom Burrows trying to turn a Tahir leg break down the leg side one short of his own half-century..

That left Sussex 205-5, but Wright and Yasir Arafat (37) added a quickfire 59.

Nash had earlier played impressively to overcome the early losses of captain Michael Yardy and Ed Joyce, hitting nine boundaries in his 57 and sharing a stand of 71 for the third wicket with Goodwin.

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