Yasir Arafat helped Sussex 2nd XI avoid the follow-on against Yorkshire by hitting an unbeaten 64 on his debut at Hove.

The Pakistani fast bowler, drafted in as replacement for compatriot Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, came in at 203-7 and struck eight fours and a six from 92 balls as Sussex were dismissed for 312 in reply to Yorkshire's 445.

Yorkshire went into the final day of the Championship match in a strong position, having reached 201-7 in their second innings, an overall lead of 334, with Arafat having taken 2-67 in 13 overs.

Sussex, resuming on 178-5, were indebted to Arafat and academy youngsters Stuart Faith and Stefan Piolet after trialist Zoheb Sharif (64) added only eight to his overnight score.

Faith, who plays for Haywards Heath, resisted for 100 balls in making 22 and Piolet's 34 came off 53 deliveries with four boundaries before he was beaten by a fabulous yorker from Ajmal Shahzad.

When Yorkshire batted again, Simon Guy made 53 while Matt Wood, a left-arm swing bowler who plays for Brighton and Hove, took 3-42 in 15 overs.

Left-arm spinner Tom Smith, who took 5-130 in the first innings, has followed up so far with 2-64 from 22 overs.

Rana was an interested observer of Arafat's innings as he reported at the County Ground for a gym session.