Chris Nash and Ed Joyce both made half centuries as Sussex withstood the threat of James Anderson on the second day of their Championship clash with Lancashire at Hove.

Anderson struck in his first over to remove Luke Wells for a duck but Nash and Joyce held firm to guide Sussex to 108-1 at lunch.

Joyce was given a reprieve early on when Jos Buttler put down a regulation catch off the bowling of Anderson.

The Sussex skipper made the most of it as he moved on to 53 not out and passed 1,000 Championship runs for the season and 15,000 first class career runs in the process.

It was Joyce’s eight Championship half century of the season – this one coming off 88 balls - and he has gone on to reach three figures on five occasions.

In contrast Nash has struggled for form this year but looked back to his best as he reached his fourth Championship 50 from 79 balls with ten fours and also went to lunch on 53.

Their partnership calmed any nerves which had been sent jangling by the dismissal of Wells off only the third ball of the day with the score 1-1.

The left-hander edged a good ball from Anderson which was angled across him to Buttler who took a diving catch to his left.