"We had our pants pulled down," says disappointed Ian Salisbury

His Sussex side lost to Northamptonshire by an innings and 120 runs after being bowled out for 106 and 215

Ben Sanderson and Gareth Berg combine to dismantle Sussex

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Northants v Sussex scorecard

Sussex head coach Ian Salisbury has voiced his disappointment at his side’s performance during their heavy defeat to Northamptonshire in the County Championship, stating: "We had our pants pulled down."

His side lost by an innings and 120 runs at Wantage Road, with Ollie Robinson ( 49 not out and 23) and Jack Carson (10 and 10) the only Sussex batsmen to reach double figures in both innings. Northants bowlers Gareth Berg and Ben Sanderson shared 19 wickets, taking nine for 90 and 10 for 99, respectively.

After losing the toss and being put in to bat, Sussex were reduced to 25 for seven inside 14 overs before a 56-run stand between Robinson and Stuart Meaker helped them post a first innings total of 106.

Robinson also led from the front with the bowling, removing four of Northants’ top five on his way to five for 58, but he was no match for Saif Zaib (135) and Adam Rossington (87) as the home side raced to 441 for nine.

Trailing by 335 runs at the start of their second innings, Stiaan van Zyl posted a resilient half-century as Sussex ended day two on 154 for four. However, following his dismissal early on the final day, the away side lost the final five wickets for just 56 runs to slip to their third defeat of the season.

Commenting after the match, Salisbury said: "I don’t like losing. We had our pants pulled down here. Fair play to their two lads with 19 wickets between them. They hit the top of off really well which outside of Ollie Robinson we didn’t do well enough.

"You can’t get bowled out for 106 and barely 200. There weren’t too many demons in the pitch second time around.

"Yes, they bowled well but you have to recognise the two bowlers you have to get through. They aren’t bowling 90mph or mystery but just good honest bowlers. Did we sell our wickets dearly enough? From the sidelines it didn’t like we did.

"Whenever you have a loss it is good to get back on the horse. I can’t wait for the next game now. We’ll be looking at how we can win the next game. This game aside we had two close games so this one is pretty disappointing."

Sussex are currently fourth in Group Three after five matches and host Kent at Hove in round six.

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