For a team talking about a top three finish after beating Surrey a couple of weeks ago, Sussex are giving a pretty good impression of a side on the slide at the moment.

Beaten by Lancashire last week after they lost seven first innings wickets for 50, the county's batting folded alarmingly again at Grace Road yesterday when they were bowled out for 215 after looking reasonably placed at 172-4.

There was something to assist the bowlers in a slow, greenish pitch with some variable bounce and the Leicestershire triumervate of Devon Malcolm, Phil DeFreitas and Javagal Srinath - combined age 107 -used all their experience to exploit it.

The evergreen Malcolm claimed his fourth five-wicket haul of the season, which included a best of 7-76 at Horsham in May, to take his Championship tally to 49 while Srinath, Leicestershire's fourth overseas player this summer, and DeFreitas broke the back of the Sussex innings with canny spells either side of lunch.

James Kirtley made a breakthrough in the first over of Leicestershire's reply when Trevor Ward thick-edged an away-swinger to third slip and Darren Maddy was put down by Richard Montgomerie in Kirtley's next over, possibly distracted when Matt Prior dived in front of him.

Maddy never looked comfortable though and Kevin Innes pinned him in front in the last over as Leicestershire reached 50-2 at the close.

Neither side can be entirely sure that their first division status is secure and Sussex coach Peter Moores will be alarmed that their batting has started to look vulnerable all of a sudden. The success they have enjoyed this season has invariably been based around solid first innings scores, but they have only passed 250 twice in the last seven games.

Both openers were dismissed inside seven overs yesterday and thereafter bat only dominated the ball when Chris Adams and Tony Cottey were putting on 82 in 27 overs.

Murray Goodwin was leg before for the 12th time in 23 Championship innings when Srinath slanted one into him in the fourth over and Montgomerie was deceived by a Malcolm full toss, having edged between wicketkeeper and first slip in the previous over.

Srinath regularly beat the beat in a high-class opening spell which Adams and Cottey did well to surive. Adams was never at his fluent best, scoring the majority of his 11 fours between gully and backward point, but he still made his third half-century in the last four innings.

Cottey was bowled via an inside edge by Srinath from the last ball of the morning and DeFreitas took a superb return catch off a leading edge shortly after the interval when he surprised Adams with extra pace and bounce.

DeFreitas deserved more reward for an intelligent spell but Tim Ambrose and Robin Martin-Jenkins repaired some of the early damage in a fifth wicket stand of 46 before Malcolm made a productive return to the attack by claiming three wickets in seven overs.

Ambrose, who had been dropped on 29 at first slip off the second ball of his new spell, added five more before jabbing at a delivery which held its line. The Sussex slide had begun.

No one is struggling more for runs at the moment than Matt Prior who recorded his third duck in the last four innings when he was bowled in Malcolm's next over. A nip-backer from the England veteran then accounted for Innes to leave Sussex 178-7.

Martin-Jenkins scored his fifth half-century of the season and played some glorious shots off his legs before Darren Maddy breached his defences with an inswinger. A ball from Maddy which moved the other away accounted for Kirtley and Malcolm topped things off when Billy Taylor had an airy waft outside off stump.

Jamie Carpenter struck a battling 80 as Sussex 2nd XI were made to struggle for their runs on the opening day of their penultimate championship match against Nottinghamshire.

Sussex, with only two wins all season, were dismissed for 224 at Trent Bridge and Notts then reached 60-1 in reply.

Opener Carpenter resisted for four and a quarter hours and was eventually seventh out. He held his side together by sharing in a fourth wicket stand of 79 with Carl Hopkinson (34), who became the first of five victims for Charlie Shreck.