WARWICKSHIRE CCC suffered a five-wicket defeat against Sussex in the club’s second game of the County Championship season.
A century from Jack Leaning (120 not out) inspired Sussex to victory at the County Ground in Hove.
The Bears looked well-placed for victory with Sussex five wickets down and still 144 runs from victory.
However, a 144-run sixth-wicket partnership between Leaning and Tom Price (70 not out) condemned the Bears to their first defeat of the season.
The result leaves Warwickshire seventh in Division One of the County Championship.
Bears head coach, Ian Westwood said: “We’re hurting a bit. We put a lot into the game and there were times during it when we were very close to getting really on top.
“But we let it slip and ultimately we paid the price for that.
“The new ball was hard to deal with in both innings.
“They bowled well with that and put us under a lot of pressure but we also showed a lot of fight to recover and build some partnerships.
“Batting got a lot more simple when the ball was 30-40 overs old and Rob Yates showed that.
“He has worked hard on his game during the winter and that has allowed him to face the number of balls he has in this game. He deserved a hundred.”
The Bears posted 267 all out in their first innings as Chris Woakes (64) top scored.
And Warwickshire then bowled Sussex out for 204 as Ethan Bamber (3-47) starred with the ball.
However, the Bears could only manage 264 all out in their second innings despite the best efforts of opener Rob Yates (90) and Michael Booth (48).
Sussex needed 328 for victory as Booth (2-59) Bamber (2-66) took two wickets apiece to leave the game in the balance despite a half-century from opener Daniel Hughes (83).
However, the Bears could not break up the partnership of Leaning and Price as Sussex claimed a five-wicket win.
Warwickshire are next in action against Essex with play to begin on Friday, April 17 at 11am at Edgbaston.
