Chris Adams and Robin Martin-Jenkins propelled Sussex to a heartening five-wicket victory over Northamptonshire in yesterday's pre-season friendly at a bleak and chilly Wantage Road.

Adams looked in prime form as he cracked three sixes and 18 fours in a superb unbeaten 135, easing the county to their target of 277 with three overs to spare.

At the other end, Martin-Jenkins provided high-quality support with 60 not out from 61 balls, and their partnership realised 162 in only 21 overs as Sussex rallied strongly from the depths of 117-5.

Conditions were far removed from the warm sunshine of Grenada, where the teams met in three limited-overs games during the recent tour. Adams' men won two of them, and duly extended their run of success on a bitterly cold Northampton day with occasional flurries of sleet blowing across the ground.

The home side's 276-7 featured solid contributions from Russell Warren (87), Jeff Cook (71) and Mike Hussey (56), while Mark Robinson and Martin-Jenkins returned the tidiest figures, conceding 42 and 40 runs respectively in their ten-over stints.

It was a difficult day for both sets of spinners, although Umer Rashid had the satisfaction of seeing Hussey smartly stumped by Matt Prior after cleverly beating the Australian left-hander in the flight.

Northants then wrested the initiative with Darren Cousins removing Bas Zuiderent and Richard Montgomerie in successive overs, and when Rashid top-edged a sweep at England tourist Jason Brown to backward square leg with 160 still needed, the game was in danger of running away from Sussex. But Adams was equal to the situation, reaching his half-century with two deft reverse-sweeps to the boundary off Graeme Swann, and completing his second 50 in 29 deliveries.