Amjad Khan, Sussex. Picture: Chris Ison/PA Archive

LV= County Championship Day One: Sussex (106 for three) trail Middlesex (170ao) by 64 runs

Spurred on by Amjad Khan’s five for 25, Ed Joyce hit an unbeaten 49 to put Sussex firmly in the driving seat on day one of Middlesex’s LV= County Championship visit to Hove, where the Martlets made measured progress to be 106 for three in reply the visitors’ 170 all out.

After losing the toss, Middlesex slumped to 65 for six. Steve Magoffin’s opening spell produced the wickets of Chris Rogers and Joe Denly, both of whom were caught at gully, to make it 17 for two.

After recovering to 56 for two, the visitors were pegged back further when Amjad Khan, who recorded his best figures for seven years, struck three times in the space of eight deliveries.

Khan’s first ball was pulled for four by Dawid Malan, who then hit three boundaries in four deliveries off Luke Wright, starting with a drive past mid-on and ending with a four through extra cover to bring up the fifty for Middlesex.

But, in the 19th over, Malan was caught at the second attempt off a thick edge. Two overs later, Sam Robson (24) presented Michael Yardy with a routine catch at second slip.

A wild slash from Neil Dexter at the start of the 23rd over was followed, moments later, by a superb catch by Yardy at second slip to see the back of John Simpson as Wright also got in on the act.

From being 76-6 at lunch, the visitors had a let-off with the total on 91 when Gareth Berg, on six, was put down at second slip off the bowling of Magoffin.

With the majority of their runs coming behind square on the off side, the seventh wicket pair put on 54 in 20 overs before Ollie Rayner, who took a nasty blow to the hand, followed an outswinging delivery from Khan to depart for 32.

Two overs later, the former Kent and England seamer bagged his second five-wicket haul of the summer when Berg fended at a wide delivery and was caught at second slip, though not before Toby Roland-Jones had driven Wright straight down the ground for four.

The 49th over saw Tim Murtagh punch Khan through the off side on a couple of occasions off the back foot. But then Monty Panesar struck with his third ball to trap Roland-Jones leg before to make it 140 for nine.

Murtagh, who top scored with 34 off 27 balls, brought up the 150 with a six over long-on off Panesar. However, three overs later, Magoffin drew a line under Middlesex’s first innings when Murtagh missed and the 32-year-old Australian hit.

After tea, Chris Nash opened his account with a cover driven four. The next over saw Ed Joyce edge Murtagh over the slips cordon, but there was nothing fortuitous about the Irishman’s second boundary, which came from an authoritative straight drive off Corey Collymore.

In the seventh over, Joyce cut Murtagh for four and followed it up, three balls later, with a straight driven boundary.

Nash despatched Collymore to the rope at third man. But the introduction of Berg in the 12th over brought some extra bounce and, with it, the wicket of Nash, who gloved the 31-year-old all-rounder through to the keeper.

Joyce went 45 minutes without a boundary before cover driving Roland-Jones for four in the 21st over. But the loss of Wells, caught at the second attempt at first slip off Berg, and Goodwin, who was confounded when a delivery from Roland-Jones kept low, soon made it 64 for three.

Joyce moved to 45 with a cut four off Dexter, but despite facing another 21 deliveries, the former Middlesex man finished one short of his fifty. At the other end, Yardy, who latched on to anything on his leg stump, was unbowed on 24 at the close.