Nottinghamshire scent second spot

Chris Read pulls confidently in his second fifty of the match, as he concludes the best season of his career with the bat

Nottinghamshire put themselves in a strong position to secure victory over relegated Sussex in the LV= County Championship, thanks to the second half-century of the match from skipper Chris Read.

Knowing that a win would guarantee the £225,000 prize for second place in Division One, Read hit nine fours and a six to reach 64 not out before bad light brought an early end to the day’s play.

Read put on 80 for the seventh wicket with Akhil Patel (37), younger brother of Samit, to rescue Notts from a precarious 107 for six, Dwayne Smith picking up 3-50.

Samit Patel’s 54 helped Notts finish the day on 236 for seven, a lead of 321, while Mark Ealham is unbeaten on 23 in his final first-class innings before retirement.

Notts began the day on four for one, with nightwatchman Luke Fletcher only surviving two overs before he was lbw shouldering arms to Corey Collymore, with the West Indian’s confident appeal eventually approved by umpire Nick Cook.

With the wicket offering some assistance to seamers and the occasional sharp bounce, scoring was slow in the opening session as opener Alex Hales and Mark Wagh attempted to negotiate the new ball.

Wagh was eventually trapped lbw by Smith playing across the line for two - his fifth single-figure score in the past six innings - but Samit Patel showed more assurance with several pleasing boundaries as Notts reached 63 for three at lunch.

Hales continued to dig in during the afternoon session and let Samit Patel take charge, with the burly all-rounder reaching his half-century by driving Jason Lewry through midwicket for four.

But as so often during 2009, he then gave his wicket away by hooking Smith straight to the waiting fielder at long-leg.

Akhil Patel, making his championship debut in the match, took 18 balls to get off the mark and then saw Hales and Ali Brown fall in consecutive overs, Hales bowled by Piyush Chawla for 38 and Brown lbw to a yorker from Smith.]

But Read, enjoying his finest season with the bat of his career, settled any nerves in the 18-year-old and the pair set about building a useful lead before Akhil edged the off-spin of Chris Nash to wicketkeeper Andrew Hodd.

Read and Ealham had added 49 before the close and the hosts will need to decide when to declare on the final day to set up a victory opportunity, hunting their first win in three months.