Sussex recovered well from an early stumble at Wantage Road to dent relegated Northamptonshire's hopes of ending a wretched LV County Championship season on a winning note.

At one point on the opening day, Sussex were tottering on 7-2, having lost Chris Nash and captain Ed Joyce, both sent back to the pavilion by Azharullah.

But the visitors recovered to reach stumps on 300-7, with the promise of more runs to come on Wednesday.

Opener Luke Wells dropped anchor for a large part of the day to make 81, and his efforts were supplemented by Michael Yardy, who made 56, and Ben Brown, who fell two short of a half-century.

Ashar Zaidi was unbeaten on 54 at the close, in an unbroken eighth-wicket partnership with Steve Magoffin, who had reached 20.

Northamptonshire have yet to taste victory in the top flight of the County Championship this season, losing 12 of their previous 15 fixtures.