COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION TWO, Guildford:
CLOSE OF PLAY, DAY THREE: Sussex 217 & 39-2, Surrey 292
Surrey 5pts, Sussex 4pt
Match scorecard

Arafat has taken 37 five-wicket hauls in first-class cricket

Yasir Arafat took five wickets to help Sussex fight back against Surrey on day three at Guildford.

After Surrey had resumed on 47-0, 62 from Steven Davies helped them past Sussex's first-innings score of 217 with just four wickets down.

But when Davies fell, it sparked a collapse that saw the hosts lose their last six wickets for 73 runs, with Arafat (5-81) mopping up tail.

Stuart Meaker then struck twice to leave Sussex 39-2 at stumps, 36 behind.

The Surrey top order all made starts, but Tom Lancefield (37), Arun Harinath (20), Mark Ramprakash (21) and captain Rory Hamilton-Brown (22) were all out before lunch.

606: DEBATE I'm not suggesting Sussex will win or even should win from here, but isn't the beauty of cricket that they could? HighcliffeClive2

Davies and Stewart Walters (45) dug in to take Surrey into the lead only for Panesar to remove both men.

Arafat then took the final three wickets to fall to finish with his best figures for Sussex for more than four years.

Sussex began their second innings soundly, with openers Ed Joyce and Chris Nash adding 38 before Meaker removed both Nash and nightwatchman Panesar lbw to give Surrey the chance of an unlikely win.

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