Captain Ed Joyce’s sixth Championship century of the season helped Sussex edge gain a slight advantage after day two of their clash with Lancashire at Hove.

Joyce made 137 and shared in big partnerships with Chris Nash and Craig Cachopa as Sussex reached 341-7 at the close, a lead of 21.

It looked like being an even better day for the home side when they were 247-2 but Lancashire fought back well with the ball in the evening session as five wickets fell for 56 runs.

After Luke Wells was dismissed for a duck in the first over of the day, Joyce put on 156 with Nash who showed signs of rediscovering his best form following a tough season with a 138-ball 67.

The Sussex skipper then added a further 90 with Cachopa who made his fourth half century in five Championship innings since joining the club in July.

But when Cachopa was caught in the slips for 50 to give James Anderson his second wicket of the day it sparked a clatter of wickets.

Joyce’s four and a half hour innings came to an end when he was caught in the gully off the bowling of Tom Smith just before the new ball was due.

Luke Wright hit Simon Kerrigan for two sixes as he played positively but fell in the second over with the new ball to Glen Chapple for 22.

Ben Brown’s poor form with the bat continued as he edged Chapple to the wicketkeeper for a duck and then Mike Yardy was run out by a direct hit from Usman Khawaja as he was called through for a quick single by Chris Jordan.

Jordan and Ashar Zaidi survived until the close and will be looking to stretch Sussex’s lead and claim a fourth batting point in the morning.