Coach Peter Moores praised the "fantastic" batting of Jason Lewry and James Kirtley as the Sussex tail-enders dug their side out of a hole at Lord's yesterday.
The pair put on 67 for the last wicket against Middlesex on the opening day of the Championship match to help the county recover from 172-9 to 239. Lewry and Kirtley then took a wicket apiece as the hosts closed on 79-4.
Moores said: "It was a classical first day really. There is something in it for the bowlers and in an ideal world we would have got 400 or so because it's the sort of pitch that if you get in you can score well.
"It was a catalogue of nearly partnerships and then we seemed to lose a crucial wicket, but James and Jason batted fantastically well at the end and we took that momentum with us when we bowled.
"All our tail-enders have bought into the fact that they have to produce with the bat. We all know what a great timer of the ball Jason is but what I liked about his innings was that he played himself in first. That knock will have given him a lot of confidence."
Lewry made 45, just two short of his career-best, off 43 balls and then removed England man Owais Shah with the new ball.
Robin Martin-Jenkins and Mushtaq Ahmed collected a wicket apiece, the Pakistani leg spinner removing nightwatchman Simon Cook just before the close to claim his first victim for his new county.
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