Sussex supporters have got used to Rana Naved producing match-winning performances with a ball in his hand.

The Pakistani's latent talent with the bat has been largely forgotten during Sussex's early-season climb to the top of the Championship.

But at Horsham yesterday Rana reminded everyone of his abilities with an entertaining 64 to give his side the first-day honours.

Not that Middlesex needed much reminding. Last year Rana smashed their attack all around Lord's on his way to a career-best 139 before taking four wickets in an over the following day as Sussex wrapped up a two-day win.

The biggest surprise of Sussex's rise to the top of the table is that it had been achieved despite gaining fewer batting bonus points than anyone else in the division.

Another familiar tale was unfolding when Middlesex took three wickets in five overs after tea to reduce Sussex to 231-7.

A slow pitch hardly encouraged strokeplay but, not for the first time this season, too many batsmen were complicit in their own downfall including Championship debutant Ollie Rayner for a second-ball duck.

Rana, however, displayed no such inhibitions as he pulled and drove his way to his highest score since that epic at headquarters last August.

Luke Wright, his confidence bouyed by Monday's match-winning cameo against Somerset, lost little in comparison as the pair hit off-spinner Jamie Dalrymple out of the attack before smashing the second new ball to all parts.

Both hit sixes off Dalrymple and Chad Keegan with Rana racing to 64 off just 51 balls including seven boundaries bludgeoned with rustic power somehow in keeping with the bucolic setting.

Rana strikes the crowning touch When Rana was bowled by Chris Silverwood, the eighth wicket pair had put on 116 in just 22 overs.

In an eventful over, Mushtaq Ahmed was rapped on the left hand and Wright wafted to the wicketkeeper after making a Championship-best 59 off 90 balls with six fours.

But Mushtaq upper-cut to the boundary in the next over and Sussex had finally gone past 350 and secured half as many batting points in one innings as they have so far this season.

Their collective efforts justified the decision to play only four specialist batsmen in the absence of the injured Mike Yardy.

But there is no lack of all-round depth with a dangerous customer like Mushtaq coming in at No10.

The top four all got starts and Carl Hopkinson and Murray Goodwin made half-centuries but only Goodwin could consider himself unlucky to get out when he appeared to be well set.

Although a seperate pitch had been prepared, Sussex opted to play on the wicket which had been used on Monday when only 40 overs were bowled in the one-day game against Somerset.

They felt it would be a better batting surface although the fact that Dalrymple turned his second ball sharply to remove Richard Montgomerie suggests there will be plenty of help for the spinners over the next three days too.

Dalrymple terminated the third half-century opening partnership of the season but Hopkinson got himself established and past 50 for the third successive match only to drive loosely to backward point after lunch.

The way he dragged himself reluctantly back to the dressing room suggested he knew a great chance to lodge his maiden first-class hundred had slipped by.

Goodwin and Adams took the score to 156 with few alarms when skipper Ben Hutton took wickets in successive overs with his medium pace as Adams lost his off stump to a nip-backer which kept a bit low and Matt Prior dragged a square drive onto his stumps.

It says something about the conditions that a player of Goodwin's quality laboured dilligently for nearly three hours over his first half-century since his double hundred in the season's opener against Warwickshire.

It took a sensational full-length diving catch at wide mid-on which was more Shilton or Clemence than Keegan to remove him and Dalrymple struck again later in the over when Rayner was leg before trying to whip a ball of fulllish length through the leg side.

Robin Martin-Jenkins played as well as anyone until a delivery from former Sussex triallist Mohammed Ali stopped in the pitch and the bowler held a juggling return catch at the third attempt.

But Rana and Wright wrested back the initiative and even when they departed Middlesex were frustrated by a typical cameo from Mushtaq who hit four boundaries but was also dropped by Owais Shah at slip to confirm that it had been Sussex's day.

  • Former Sussex bowler Billy Taylor removed England captain Michael Vaughan for one as his first-class comeback lasted just 13 balls for Yorkshire against Hampshire at Headingley. Vaughan nicked behind to wicketkeeper Nic Pothas just three balls after being clean bowled on a no-ball.