Mushtaq Ahmed provided Sussex with a much needed breakthrough as he claimed his 100th wicket of the season today.

The Pakistani leg spinner struck with the last ball before lunch when he bowled Brad Hodge with a flipper.

Mushtaq became the first bowler since 1998 to take 100 wickets in a season and his success was a welcome boost as Sussex chased the first Championship in their history.

Neither left-hander John Maunders or Darren Maddy had been troubled by the new ball until left-hander Maunders was too early into an attempted pull at Robin Martin-Jenkins' third delivery and the ball lobbed gently to Jason Lewry at mid off.

Sussex skipper Chris Adams had desperately wanted to call correctly and get first use of a pitch which was used for the three-day win over Warwickshire at the end of June.

Instead, already relegated Leicestershire, who won their first game of the season only last week, gave the impression that they would make it as difficult as possible for Sussex.

Six points would secure the Championship, even fewer depending on Lancashire's progress in their final match against Nottinghamshire. The good news for Sussex supporters was that Lancashire's decision to bowl first at Trent Bridge appeared to have backfired as their opponents cruised to 148-0 at lunch.

Meanwhile, back at Hove, Lewry switched to the Cromwell Road end after bowling seven overs with the new ball down the slope.

The morning haze suggested that the ball might swing for him, but few deliveries deviated early on, either through the air or off what looked a flat pitch.

A good crowd had turned up to try and see Sussex make history and the majority of them stood to applaud Adams when he led his players out at the start. But the next time they were roused, apart from the wicket, was to acknowledge Mushtaq when he replaced Lewry in the 22nd over.

Hodge collected three boundaries in his second over, two scorching past the bowler across a parched outfield, the other struck on the up through extra cover.

But Mushtaq hit back and departed to a standing ovation from the home crowd with his team-mates feeling a whole lot better as well.