Kent's LV Championship match with champions Sussex is nicely poised going into its fourth and final day after a great tussle between the neighbouring counties on Friday.

Eleven wickets fell on day three as Kent rallied, but then Sussex showed why they remain unbeaten on home soil since the last game of 2004 by fighting back with a century stand between Matt Prior and Luke Wright.

The hosts closed on 179 for seven and an overall lead in the match of 278 runs, but their second innings started badly with a wicket to the fourth ball. For the second time in the game Carl Hopkinson played a part in his own demise to a run out. Pushing the ball to mid-wicket he set off up the slope only for Joe Denly to sweep in and throw down the stumps at the non-striker's end.

In the fifth over fellow opener Carl Nash (4) pushed at a Robbie Joseph leg-cutter and found a thick edge which Geraint Jones, tumbling to his right, pouched in his right glove to make it 17 for two.

Then, just before the second interval of the day, Azhar Mahmood claimed his second wicket of the game when Michael Yardy (23) gloved an attempted pull shot to Jones and, in his next over and three balls from the scheduled interval, Murray Goodwin (10) top-edged and attempted pull to be well held by Yasir Arafat running in from long-leg.

After tea, Prior teamed up with Wright to add 115 in 24 overs for the sixth wicket in very attractive style. Prior gave a tough chance on nine when he edged a drive off Mahmood to slip, but James Tredwell was unable to cling on to a diving chance.

Prior moved on to a 67-ball 50 and Wright joined him there after 64 deliveries, but soon after Prior (59) was snared leg before by a Ryan McLaren shooter and then, in the final over of the day Wright (58) chopped on when trying to cut a full-length ball from Tredwell.

Earlier, Kent moved to within 99 of the Sussex first innings total and recorded their maiden batting bonus point for 2008 after reaching 204 all out.

Resuming on their parlous overnight total of 65 for six, Kent went into lunch on 156 for nine having struggled against an inspired Sussex attack.

Makeshift opening bat Tredwell (40) was the first victim of the morning after 35 minutes, trying to work the ball to leg he was undone by Mushtaq Ahmed's googly that turned to peg back the left-hander's off stump.

Eight overs later Mushtaq struck again by removing his former Test team-mate and new Kent signing Azhar Mahmood for seven. Pushing forward watchfully, Mahmood offered a bat-pad catch to silly point that was comfortably accepted by Michael Yardy close in under the helmet.

All-rounder McLaren played a couple of crisp drives in reaching 10 but, with the total on 122, he shuffled forward in defence to a Wright leg-cutter that grazed the outside edge to give wicketkeeper Prior a low, tumbling catch stood back.

Last wicket partners Geraint Jones (53) and Yasir Arafat (46), back on his old stomping ground, added 82 in 17 overs to ease Kent past the follow-on figure of 153 and to their first batting bonus point of the summer.

But four runs on Arafat, in aiming an expansive lofted drive off Mushtaq, inside-edged a googly onto his off stump to give the wrist-spinner figures of five for 83.

Mushtaq has now taken 69 championship wickets against Kent in this his 10th game against them and this represented his 55th five-wicket haul for Sussex.

The game concludes on Saturday.