Sussex have been knocked off the top of Division Two after suffering their second successive defeat in the LV County Championship.

They were beaten by three wickets by Northamptonshire with a day to spare at Northampton today.

Sussex were dismissed for 269 in their second innings despite 51 from opener Michael Thornely, one of only three Sussex batsmen to get a half century in the match.

His departure sparked a collapse which saw four wickets go down for 15 runs in 37 balls including Matt Prior for a duck.

Robin Martin-Jenkins held the lower order together with an unbeaten 55 as he continued his fine start to the season but Northants were left 172 to win.

Sussex had a sniff of victory when they reduced them to 88-5 shortly after tea when off-spinner Ollie Rayner took wickets in successive overs.

Rana Naved, Corey Collymore and James Anyon, who also took a stunning catch in the covers, had also taken wickets before tea.

But Alex Wakely and Nicky Boje added 65 in 17 overs to ease Northants' nerves and although both were dismissed by Chris Nash, David Willey smashed two boundaries in an over from Nash to get his side over the line.