London, July 25 -- Essex needed just 25 minutes to secure only their second victory of the season in the County Championship when they beat Sussex by an innings and 39 runs at Hove.
James Coles completed his third successive Championship hundred, but Sussex were bowled out for 261 in their second innings and suffered their first Championship defeat at Hove since May 2022.
Sussex's cause at the start of the final day was pretty hopeless with 55 still needed to make Essex bat again and only three wickets in hand.
Coles, 99 not out overnight, was able to follow up centuries against Durham and Warwickshire by reaching his seventh first-class hundred, when he cut the fourth ball of the first over of the day from Matt Critchley to the boundary...