Sussex v Durham: Scores and match report

Match scores (Hove)

Sussex won by an innings and 177 runs

Durham 1st inns: 287 (Coughlin 73, Pringle 60, Cook 45; Archer 5-76, Philander 2-60)

Durham 2nd inns: 204 (Weighell 58, Pringle 38*, Collingwood 31; Philander 4-39, Archer 3-49, Jordan 2-41)

Sussex 1st inns: 668 (Wells 258, van Zyl 141, Burgess 76, Archer 70; Onions 2-38, Coughlin 3-127)

Day four report

Sussex won their first Specsavers County Championship match of the season in style, defeating Durham by an innings and 177 runs at Hove to take a maximum 24 points.

There was some stoic batting, once again, from Durham's Ryan Pringle, who batted for four and a quarter hours for his unbeaten 38. That followed his first-innings 60, when he spent 152 minutes in the middle.

But it was nowhere near enough to deny a Sussex side who appear to be transformed by the return of Vernon Philander, Luke Wells and Chris Jordan.

Sussex were outplayed in their opener against Kent at Hove last month, but the return game at Tunbridge Wells this weekend could be interesting.

Durham began day four on 97 for four, still 284 runs behind after Sussex posted 668 in their first innings.

Sussex broke through with the fifth ball of the second over when Paul Collingwood was lbw to David Wiese having failed to add to his overnight 31.Paul Coughlin then lost his middle stump to Jofra Archer, with the ball appearing to deflect onto his wicket via his gloves as he shouldered arms.

Stuart Poynter was the seventh Durham batsman out at 126, caught behind off Archer for a duck.

At lunch Durham were 194 for seven, still needing 187 runs to make Sussex bat again.

Sussex took the new ball immediately after the break through Archer and Philander and they swept away the Durham tail.

James Weighell had brought up his maiden first-class fifty before the interval but had not added to his lunchtime score when he played around one from Archer and lost his leg stump.

Then Philander, bowling with pace and aggression from the Cromwell Road End, had Chris Rushworth caught at third slip.

Graham Onions, who bowled only 10 overs in the match because of a sore back, did come out to bat but had his middle stump uprooted by Philander first ball.

For Sussex, it was a good day to bury bad news - the announcement of Ed Joyce's retirement from county cricket.

Joyce said: "There's no doubt in my mind I played my best cricket at Sussex and I owe a huge debt of gratitude to the coaches, players, supporters and environment at the club that allowed me to do this." 

Day three report

Some resolute defensive batting from Durham captain Paul Collingwood and Ryan Pringle carried their Specsavers County Championship match against rampant Sussex into a final day.

That looked unlikely after they slumped to 41 for four in their second innings, still 340 behind after Sussex piled on a first-innings 668 - just two runs short of their highest score at Hove.

Batting again 381 in arrears, Durham lost overseas batsman Stephen Cook to the first ball of the innings, a beauty from fellow South African Vernon Philander which angled into him before cutting away off the edge and finding the outside edge to Chris Jordan at first slip.

Then, in his third over, Philander bowled Keaton Jennings to leave Durham in trouble on 11 for two.

When Jordan replaced Philander at the Cromwell Road End he had Cameron Steel caught at second slip and then dismissed Graham Clark lbw to reduce Durham to 41 for four.

But then Collingwood and Pringle came together and batted out the last 35 overs of the day. The visitors are still 284 runs behind, with Collingwood and Pringle unbeaten on 31 and 18 respectively.

Sussex had resumed on 452 for four and Durham broke through in the fourth over of the morning. 

Stiaan van Zyl had added just eight to his overnight 141 when he was bowled off-stump by Chris Rushworth. Jordan got a leading edge and sent a simple return catch to Paul Coughlin to make it 492 for six but David Wiese joined Michael Burgess and the pair put on 58 in 12 overs before Wiese drove leg-spinner Steel to Pringle at mid-on.

Burgess and new batsman Philander then took Sussex past their previous-best score against Durham - their 552 for eight declared at Hove in 1996. 

But Burgess, looking for his maiden first-class century, was eighth out with the score on 566 when he was bowled playing forward to Pringle for 76.

But Sussex bat deep and after the dismissal of Burgess, Jofra Archer took on the run-scoring responsibilities, making 70 from 68 balls, with six fours and five sixes, as Sussex built their mammoth score.

Day two report

Luke Wells bludgeoned his way to a career-best 258 to put Sussex firmly in charge of their Specsavers County Championship clash against Durham at Hove.

Having missed Sussex's opening two championship matches of the season due to a knee injury, Wells made up for lost time by putting Durham's bowlers to the sword with 34 fours and seven sixes in his 311-ball innings.

Wells also put on 376 for the third wicket alongside Stiaan van Zyl, who ended the day on an unbeaten 141 to lift Sussex to a commanding 452 for four and a lead of 165 at the halfway point of the Division Two contest.

Durham's cause was not helped by seamer Graham Onions missing most of day two, with the north-east club saying he will be "assessed" to determine whether he will play any further part.

It was Onions who made the breakthrough with the fourth ball of the morning when Chris Nash was caught in the slips without adding to his overnight 22 - but it proved to be a rare moment of joy for the visitors.

Playing his first championship match in eight months, Wells, whose first game back for the limited-overs clash against the touring South Africans last Friday saw him make a first-ball duck, quickly settled into his stride alongside Van Zyl.

Wells was the more aggressive of the two although his 165-ball hundred which included 16 fours did not feature a maximum.

That changed when Wells, who does not feature in white-ball cricket for Sussex, approached his double hundred as he showed that, once in, he can be as devastating as anyone in the side.

Chris Rushworth was steered over long-leg for six before James Weighell was dispatched into the stands at midwicket immediately after Wells had brought up his double hundred with a four down to the third man boundary.

But he reserved his most savage batting for spinner Ryan Pringle, whose 24th over went for six, six, six, four, four, a no-ball six and a dot in a fantastic display of power hitting to bring up his 250 - and Sussex's 400 as they breezed to maximum batting bonus points.

He was dismissed in the next over, caught in the deep attempting another heave off Paul Coughlin to bring an incredible innings to an end.

Van Zyl had largely acted as the foil for Wells but he brought up three figures when his partner was still at the crease, reaching the mark off 205 balls with 11 fours and a six.

While Coughlin had Sussex captain Luke Wright caught behind in his next over, former South Africa international Van Zyl remained unbeaten until the close and will be seeking to put the home side further ahead on Tuesday.

Day one report

Jofra Archer claimed five wickets as late controversy injected some life into otherwise sleepy proceedings between Sussex and Durham at Hove.

Both sides were considered to be among the strongest three or four counties in the second division at the start of the season but, for different reasons, find themselves at the wrong end of the table.

And it looked very second class cricket at times. The Sussex bowling was ordinary, despite the return of Vernon Philander and Chris Jordan, and their fielding, which has been indifferent all season, was even more accident prone than normal, with at least four catches going down.

But the Durham batsmen, perhaps surprised to be put in under sunny skies, were not good enough to make the most of their good fortune.

The incident happened shortly after tea, as Ryan Pringle and Paul Coughlin featured in a rescuing sixth-wicket stand. They managed to stave off the Sussex bowlers without actually dominating them, and put on 110 before Pringle was caught behind for 60.

But a short while beforehand Pringle, on 51, flicked Jordan to long leg, where David Wiese appeared to take a fine running catch, with the ball well off the ground.

But Pringle did not walk and umpires Graham Lloyd and Ben Debenham decided not to give the batsman out. The Sussex fielders protested but neither batsman nor umpired changed their mind.

After that Sussex appeared to raise their game and Durham lost their last five wickets for 48 runs.

But Durham would not have got close to that if Chris Nash not dropped two straightforward catches at second slip.

Michael Burgess missed another behind the wicket and Archer put down another at long leg. At least Archer redeemed himself with figures of five for 76.

Durham were going well on 72 for one but then lost three wickets in as many overs just before lunch to go to the break on 90 for four.

Two of the late wickets went to Philander, the first of his Sussex career - he was injured in his debut game against Kent last month.

First he dismissed Cameron Steel, a soft dismissal caught at square-leg, before he had Stephen Cook lbw for 45 in his next over.

Then Archer, who had taken the first Durham wicket when he removed Keaton Jennings off-stump for 12, struck again when he had Paul Collingwood lbw for nine.

Danny Briggs came on at 129 and struck with his first delivery when he had Graham Clark lbw for 23. Then came the reviving and controversial stand between Coughlin and Pringle.