County Championship: Dane Vilas unbeaten ton puts Lancashire in command against Sussex

Lancashire captain Dane Vilas hit an unbeaten 132 to help put his side in command against out-of-form Sussex.

Vilas was backed-up by half-centuries from Rob Jones (88) and Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell (59) as the Red Rose were able to declare on 494-6.

It gave the hosts a lead of 367 as they pressed on from an overnight 149-1 and put themselves in pole position to strengthen their promotion chances.

Sussex saw out four overs before stumps to reach 15-0 in their second innings.

The highlight for Lancashire was a first County Championship century of the season for Vilas.

But luckless England opener Keaton Jennings' hopes of adding to his overnight 53 were ended when he cut Mir Hamza very hard to backward point where Delray Rawlins clutched a brilliant one-handed catch high to his left.

Lancashire batsman Rob Jones:

"In the previous couple of games we didn't start as well as we wanted. But we wanted to come out and set the tone because we know how big the game against Sussex is.

"So to bowl them out as we did and then to bat long has been great and it's set us up to win this game.

"It was a different role in that I had to play a lot of spin. It was great to bat with Glenn Maxwell because he knows a lot about batting against spin and he's a very experienced cricketer."

Sussex all-rounder Delray Rawlins:

"It was a tough day for the boys. We knew when we turned up it wouldn't be easy but we stuck to it pretty well and hopefully we can bat on.

"We all know we haven't been scoring the runs we want. They stuck the ball in some pretty decent areas but hopefully the boys can prove a point. You never know what can happen in this great game.

"As for the catch off Jennings, luckily it stuck. Most people thought it had gone for four. But he hit it reasonably well and I think that's what helped it to stick."