COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION TWO, Derby:
Sussex 429 & 71-7 drew with Derbyshire 337
Sussex 11pts, Derbys 8pts
Match scorecard

Persistent rain meant no play was possible on the final day of the Championship match between Derbyshire and Sussex at the County Ground.

Play was abandoned at 1300 BST with Sussex unable to continue their second innings, in which they were 71-7.

Sussex take 11 points from the game to cement their second place in Division Two, and close the gap on leaders Glamorgan to 14 points.

Derbyshire picked up eight points to move 16 clear of basement club Surrey.

The game was set up for an intriguing finish with Sussex's lead being 163 runs, with just three second innings wickets remaining.

Rain during the night and throughout the morning frustrated the ambitions of both teams and although lunch was taken early, there was no sign of any break in the weather.

Another heavy shower forced umpires Michael Gough and David Millns to make the inevitable decision to call the game off.

The draw halts a run of three consecutive County Championship defeats for Derbyshire and leaves Sussex without a victory in their last four matches.

It also brought a soggy end to Sussex all-rounder Robin Martin-Jenkins' last away game in the Championship before he retires to take up a teaching post.

Sussex manager Mark Robinson:

"For two Championship games on the spin, we've been hit by weather. We just fancied getting to anything around a 200 lead and we'd have been in the box seat with the wicket falling to pieces on a length.

"The one thing working against us was all the holes in a line down middle-and-off stump for the right-handers and we're a team of left-handers."

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