Paul Farbrace said his Sussex team were “top class” after they ran out of time at Hove.

The county were held to a draw by Northants having set the pace for much of a rain-interrupted opening Vitality County Championship fixture of the season.

They had their visitors 170-9 in the third innings of the match, a lead of 63, when bad light, then rain, brought a halt to proceedings.

Sussex coach Farbrace said: “I’m delighted. The players have taken their hard work from the winter into the first game against a team in Division One last season and really tried to force the issue.

“It shows how confident we are as a team and how confident they are individually.

“We played excellent cricket. Our discipline with the ball helped us keep the run rate down, both seamers and our two young spinners.

We also batted brilliantly, some of our catches were outstanding and overall I thought we were top class.

“Ollie (Robinson) bowled exceptionally well. His energy through the crease and the carry he got to the keeper was top class.

“With each spell he bowled he got better. The only way to get rhythm is to bowl overs and the more he bowled the better he looked.”

India run-maker Cheteshwar Pujara is now back at Hove and expected to face Leicestershire, from Friday.