Disciplined bowling and the timely intervention of the elements have given Sussex hope of saving their Championship match against first division leaders Surrey at the Oval.

Bad light and rain, which had already caused two brief stoppages, set in 25 minutes before tea yesterday with Surrey 233-3, their second innings held together by opener Ian Ward's 135.

Surrey skipper Adam Hollioake's plan was to bat Sussex totally out of the match and have a dart with the new ball for an hour or so last night, but the loss of 41 overs meant he had to declare when play restarted at 5.50pm.

But only 3.5 overs were possible after the resumption and Sussex knocked 12 runs off their target with openers Richard Montgomerie and Murray Goodwin still together and 395 runs needed today for an unlikely victory.

A much more realistic target for the county is to bat through the final day for a draw which would boost confidence and maintain their place in the top three.

The absence of Martin Bicknell from the Surrey attack because of a hamstring strain improves their chances and, if their batsmen produce the same application shown by the bowlers yesterday, the odds are better still.

There is some slow turn to keep Saqlain Mushtaq and Ian Salisbury interested, but the pitch remains flat, the bounce consistent and the outfield fast.

A Sussex attack without the injured Billy Taylor stuck to their task as well as could be expected yesterday and the fact that in 59 overs Sussex did not concede a single extra is testament to the disciplined lines they bowled and a tidy performance behind the stumps by wicketkeeper Matthew Prior.

Having conceded a first innings lead of 173 after they were bowled out for 303 on Saturday, Sussex were on the defensive pretty much as soon as the shine had worn off the new ball.

James Kirtley and Robin Martin-Jenkins used it intelligently, but apart from a mis-timed pull by Ward off Kirtley, who bowled fast and straight, which flew over the slips for four, the Surrey openers hardly played a false shot.

After the first hour the nearest fielder to Prior was 40 yards away at backward point and Ward and Jonathan Batty were able to rotate the strike comfortably by pushing the ball into the gaps while waiting to punish any indiscretion in line or length.

Ward did have a let-off on 84 when a leading edge off Mushtaq Ahmed's leg break lobbed back to the bowler. The former England left-hander had one foot in the direction of the pavilion while Mushtaq was burying his head in his hands after dropping a simple chance.

There was consolation for the leg spinner shortly afterwards when Batty chopped on trying to hit against the spin through point for 56, made off 110 balls with eight fours and a swept six off the leg-spinner over mid-wicket.

But that was the only success Sussex enjoyed in the morning session as Ward, accumulating his runs without fuss on both sides of the wicket, made the most of his reprieve to score his second hundred of the season.

He reached the milestone with his 15th boundary shortly after lunch, a classical cover drive off Martin-Jenkins which he followed with the shot of the day, a superbly timed straight drive towards the pavilion.

Kirtley was the only bowler to seriously trouble the batsman but Adams used him sparingly which, in the circumstances, made sense. Already Kirtley has bowled 216 Championship overs this season, more than any other quickie in the country, and the last thing Adams, or England for that matter, need is for him to break down through injury.

Kevin Innes surprised Mark Ramprakash with extra bounce to claim the first of two wickets before the rain set in after lunch when he was caught behind off a top-edged pull.

Shortly afterwards Ward was taken at square leg attempting a similar shot having deposited Innes's previous delivery over mid-wicket for six. Ward faced 167 balls in total, 18 of which went for four.

James Kirtley and Somserset's Richard Johnson are battling to make their debuts when the second Test against Zimbabwe starts at the Riverside on Thursday.

Kirtley was left out of the XI for the first Test at Lord's while Johnson has been recalled after going on the tour of India in 2001 without being selected for a Test match.

He may get the nod ahead of Kirtley in the absence of the injured Matthew Hoggard because the selectors believe he offers extra bounce and, with a first-class century to his name this season, is a better batsman.

Scores - Frizzell County Championship division one Trent Bridge: Essex 203 (Napier 57, Smith 5-42) & 359 (Habib 151, Foster 85, MacGill 5-118) v Nottinghamshire 79 (Brant 6-45, Dakin 4-22) & 215 (Napier 5-66) Essex (18pts) beat Nottis (3pts) by 268 runs.

Canterbury: Lancashire 347 (Flintoff 154, M Ealham 5-54) & 334 (Loye 86, Law 67, Tredwell 4-112) v Kent 267 (Jones 92, Keedy 5-99) & 123-4.

Division two Derby: Worcestershire 374 (Hick 155, Singh 50, Mohammad Ali 4-124) & 51-1 v Derbyshire 179 (Di Venuto 54, Gait 50, Hayward 4-53) & 245 (Cork 52, Welch 51 no, Hayward 4-67) Worcestershire (21pts) beat Derbyshire (3pts) by 9 wkts.

Headingley: Durham 280 (Lewis 124) & 200 (Lewis 66, Silverwood 4-40) v Yorkshire 220 (Lumb 105, Yuvraj Singh 56, Plunkett 5-53) & 93 (Pretorius 4-15) Durham (19pts) beat Yorkshire (4pts) by 167 runs.

Northampton: Glamorgan 269 (Brown 4-52) & 220 (Hughes 73, Croft 50 no, A Nel 4-57) v Northamptonshire 262 (Powell 55, White 55, Harrison 4-64) & 172 (Jaques 59, Kasprowicz 6-72) Glamorgan (19pts) beat Northamptonshire (5pts) by 55 runs. NCL division one Grace Road: Leicestershire Foxes 234-6 v Gloucestershire Gladiators 235-7 (Windows 76) Gloucs won by 3 wkts Division Two The Grange: Scottish Saltires 201-8 (Kent 57) v Hampshire Hawks 202-4 (Smith 82 no,Kenway 51) Hampshire won by 6 wkts.