Warwickshire 415 (Yates 93, Hain 87, Barnard 66, Crocombe 3-82) and 88 for 1 trail Sussex 533 (Hughes 151, Coles 150, Rocchiccioli 6-173) by 30 runs
James Coles made 150 and there were six wickets for Warwickshire offspinner Corey Rocchiccioli but despite their efforts Sussex's Rothesay County Championship match against Warwickshire is heading for a draw.
Coles' second successive Championship hundred helped Sussex take a first-innings lead of 118 after their first innings ended on 433, 20 minutes after tea on day three.
It left Warwickshire with 24 overs to get through to stumps and they closed on 88 for one, losing Rob Yates for 11 when he inside-edged a fine ball from Ollie Robinson onto his middle stump.
Off-spinner Jack Carson nearly broke through late on but Daniel Ibrahim put down a tough chance at short leg to reprieve skipper Alex Davies, who has so far added 66 with Tom Latham as Warwickshire closed 30 runs in arrears. But the effects of a slow pitch and the Kookaburra ball are likely to ensure a stalemate, especially with some rain in the forecast on the final day.
Coles, 21, made an unbeaten 148 against Durham last week and followed it up with his sixth first-class hundred, sharing stands of 73 with Dan Ibrahim (36), 59 with John Simpson (30) and 50 with Fynn Hudson-Prentice (45) before he was sixth out, caught behind via an inside edge off Ethan Bamber.
He had to be patient for long periods. Even without Chris Rushworth, who injured his hamstring after sending down just three overs on the second day, Warwickshire bowled diligently and fielded well. Coles, unbeaten on 50 overnight, brought up his hundred with an edge to the third boundary just before lunch, but it was one of the few unconvincing shots he played in nearly six-and-a-half hours at the crease when he faced 294 balls, an outstanding effort on another day of sweltering heat at Hove. He hit 19 fours and pulled a six into the pavilion off Oliver Hannon-Dalby.
Warwickshire's hard work in the field was epitomised by Rocchiccioli, the Western Australian who arrived in England for his first taste of county cricket last month having taken 84 Sheffield Shield wickets since the 2023-4 season. Here he followed up his six wickets on debut against Somerset at Edgbaston last week with six more. Three came on the second day and he had to plug away from the sea end until his 18th over today for further reward when Carson (28) was smartly taken at leg slip.
Rocchiccioli then polished off the innings by removing Gurinder Sandhu and Henry Crocombe with successive deliveries. The 328 balls he sent down was the most in an innings by a Warwickshire bowler since Ashley Giles bowled 68.3 overs against Yorkshire at Headingley in 1996. He just about had the strength to doff his cap to acknowledge the appreciative applause of the crowd after he'd sent down his 50th over.
Bamber was the pick of Warwickshire's seam attack, picking up Ibrahim who played around a straight one as well as Coles and there was a wicket apiece for Yates and Ed Barnard.
