Sussex suffered an innings defeat by Leicestershire despite losing a day to rain and a defiant 21 from Bermudian Delray Rawlins on the final afternoon at Grace Road yesterday.

Set a target of 133 to avoid an innings defeat, Sussex were dismissed for 128 to lose by an innings and five runs with 16 balls left. Rawlins fell for 21, caught behind for the second time in the match.

Rawlins batted for 50 minutes and hit four fours off 29 balls in a stand of 34 with wicketkeeper Oliver Carter, which took the score from 83 for three to 117 for four when Rawlins was out. Carter, trying to salvage a draw, batted for 97 minutes and faced 77 balls for his nine runs after coming in at No 4.

After Rawlins’s departure it took Leicestershire just 11 overs to claim the last six wickets for only 11 runs, with Fynn Hudson-Prentice absent because of an injury picked up in the first innings. The Sussex team contained five teenagers.

Sussex scored 359 in their first innings with Rawlins caught behind for four as Ben Brown scored 133 not out and Carter 40. Leicestershire replied with 492 for four, with opener Hassan Azad scoring 152 and Lewis Hill 145.

Rawlins bowled 13 overs of spin and gave up 75 runs.

In the Sussex second innings, Ali Orr scored 34 and captain Tom Haines 31. Ben Mike claimed four for 34 and Callum Parkinson four for 18 as Sussex were dismissed in 45.2 overs.

Sussex remain without a win since beating Glamorgan in the second match of the season and are bottom of Division Three going into their final fixture against next-to-bottom Derbyshire at Hove next week.