What was already one of the proudest days of Chris Adams' Sussex career got even better after he masterminded a thrilling triumph over Lancashire.

The win keeps Sussex's hopes of a first Championship title alive.

Adams became only the fourth batsman in the county's history to score two hundreds in the same match when he followed his first innings 140 with a sparkling 190 yesterday.

A fortnight after his cautious tactics in the match against Surrey had been widely criticised, Adams left himself open to more stick when he delayed his declaration until 12.35pm, by which time Sussex had a lead of 391.

There cannot have been too many Sussex supporters who shared Adams' confidence in the ability of his bowlers to take ten wickets in 75 overs on what was still a decent pitch, but the skipper clearly knew what he was doing.

Billy Taylor produced the most telling burst of his Sussex career - 4-20 in 33 balls - to wreck Lancashire's top order before leaving the stage for Mushtaq Ahmed who took 5-23 in 17.2 overs after tea, applying the coup de grace with 12 minutes left when he had Warren Hegg caught at short leg by Richard Montgomerie, one of the seven expectant fielders clustered around the bat.

Sussex used just four bowlers and one of them, Paul Hutchison, only sent down two before giving way to Taylor who produced an outstanding physical effort in the afternoon when he bowled 17 overs unchanged from the Cromwell Road end to set up their seventh win of the season.

Taylor said: "I have tried to be more aggressive this season and it paid off. We've got four games left and the boys really believe they can win the Championship and I want to make sure I play my part."

He broke through in the ninth over, courtesy of an outstanding catch by Montgomerie whose reflex effort at short leg to intercept a firmly struck push by Iain Sutcliffe only enhanced his reputation as the best close catcher in the county game.

More importantly, Taylor now had the wind in his sails. For the next two hours he bent his back in a spell of sustained hostility from the Cromwell Road end, driven on partly by adrenalin and also the realisation that he might play an important role in making history for his county.

In his next over he induced Mark Chilton to bottom-edge an ambitious pull onto his stumps but Taylor's most crucial contribution came when he removed Lancashire's dangermen Stuart Law and Carl Hooper in successive overs for just eight runs.

Law limply hung his bat outside off stump and then Hooper seemed surprised by extra bounce. On both occasions Adams took excellent catches at second slip.

Mushtaq, who had come on in the fourth over, went wicketless in his first spell of 16 overs while Adams tried in vain to wrest the ball from Taylor who stalked back to his mark like a man possessed. Mal Loye and Chris Schofield came together and for the next 26 overs they batted sensibly and without too many alarms.

But with no chance of losing, Adams was able to set attacking fields and give Mushtaq a burst from the Cromwell Road end and he returned to have Loye leg before playing no shot in his fourth over after tea. Now, one wicket away from exposing the tail, Sussex moved in for the kill.

Davis, as he has done on a regular basis in recent weeks, made an important contribution when Schofield, who had faced 90 balls for his 18, offered no shot to a ball which kept low.

Mushtaq switched back to the sea end and promptly took three wickets in four overs. The last hour had just begun when the dangerous Glen Chapple pushed forward without too much conviction and Barry Duddleston finally upheld one of the leg spinner's countless frenzied appeals.

Two overs later Peter Martin was held off bat and pad at silly point and Lancashire had lost their ninth wicket when a fizzing leg break thudded onto John Wood's back leg.

There were still nine overs to go and an expectant crowd were clearing their throats ready to acclaim another remarkable last-gasp success. But Hegg and Gary Keedy, who played a full part in a last wicket stand of 145 when the teams met at Old Trafford last season, refused to come quietly.

Hegg quickly scampered a single to make sure he didn't expose his partner to Mushtaq and it appeared that there might be one last twist in a compelling drama.

But, as he has done so often this summer, Mushtaq had the last word, raising his tally for the season to 82 victims when Hegg was snapped up. Hegg clearly felt the ball had come off the pad, but the Sussex players, enjoying a celebratory huddle next to the pitch, were past caring.

Adams somehow managed to drag himself off at the end which was a considerable physical effort bearing in mind that he batted for ten hours and 16 minutes in the match.

The only slight disappointment was his failure to convert an overnight 147 into the third double hundred of his career. Ten short of the landmark, and having just struck his fifth six, he was caught and bowled off the bottom of the bat trying to deposit Chapple into the pavilion. He also struck 21 fours and faced 276 balls.

Sussex added a further 122 runs in 19 overs in the morning session before the declaration as Tim Ambrose, Robin Martin-Jenkins and Matt Prior all lost their wickets in the quest for quick runs.

All that seemed a long time ago as the players enjoyed a celebratory beer on the balcony in the early evening sunshine. Surrey must still be regarded as favourites to retain the title but Sussex are not going to be shaken off easily.

Frizzell County Championship - Division Two Taunton: Somerset 476 (I D Blackwell 140, A W Laraman 70, P S Jones 63) & 292-4 (M J Wood 100, J Cox 64) v Northamptonshire 681-5 dec (M E K Hussey 331 no, D J G Sales 125, T M B Bailey 101 no) Somerset (10pts) drew with Northamptonshire (12pts)

National Cricket League - Division One Whitgift: Surrey Lions 298-5 Innings Complete (M R Ramprakash 101, G P Thorpe 77 no) v Glamorgan Dragons 240 (M J Powell 60) Surrey beat Glamorgan by 58 runs.

Scarborough: Worcestershire Royals 170 (B F Smith 56) v Yorkshire Phoenix 171-7 (M J Wood 60) Yorkshire beat Worcestershire by 3 wkts.

National Cricket League - Division Two The Rose Bowl: Derbyshire Scorpions 158-9 (C T Tremlett 4-26) v Hampshire Hawks 162-4 Hampshire beat Derbyshire by 6 wkts.

Lord's: Middlesex Crusaders 300-4 (O A Shah 91 no, P N Weekes 72, C B Keegan 50) v Nottinghamshire Outlaws 263 Middlesex beat Nottinghamshire by 37 runs.