Durham vs Sussex | Day Four

A watchful century from Danial Ibrahim and a gritty 85 from John Simpson guided Sussex to a draw on the final day of their Rothesay County Championship clash with Durham. 

The pair were watchful as they looked to protect their position in the match, with a probing opening spell from Matthew Potts the most trouble the visiting batters faced on a sedate final morning. 

Simpson and Ibrahim got the Sussex lead past 200 and resumed after lunch. Sam Conners removed Simpson 15 runs short of another century, but Ibrahim remained calm to reach three figures for the second time in his First Class career.

Sussex finished on 322 for six with the teams shaking hands at 4.50 pm.

The draw means that both sides have consolidated their position in a congested mid-table region following this game, with Sussex hosting Warwickshire in the next round that starts on Sunday, while Durham travel to The Oval to face second-placed Surrey.

Resuming on 111 for four with a lead of 145, Sussex pair Simpson and Ibrahim were watchful in the face of some probing bowling from Potts and Ben Raine. 

Sussex continued their plan, taking time out of the game, with the pair rarely letting their rearguard action slip in the first hour. 

Potts had a couple of LBW shouts against Ibrahim turned down as the Durham quick searched for a breakthrough. 

Simpson broke the shackles as he got the first boundary of the day 50 minutes into proceedings, flicking a Raine delivery off his legs for four. 

The first hour was successfully negated and Alex Lees brought Bas de Leede into the attack, which brought around some aggression from Ibrahim, who picked up back-to-back boundaries, his first of the day. 

Ibrahim then brought up his first half-century of the season from an attritional 161 deliveries, while skipper Simpson pulled a Conners ball for four to reach his fifty from 106 balls.

The lunch break came and things continued in the same vein, with the Durham bowlers toiling while Sussex were happy to edge further towards the draw. 

Ibrahim did punish any freebies offered by the Durham bowling attack as he pulled a Will Rhodes short ball for four, but he survived an LBW shout from Raine when Durham took the second new ball. 

He then responded by playing a delightful cover drive off the bowling of Raine, but the Durham man was testing the 20-year-old. 

The Sussex lead was edging towards an insurmountable target for Durham with the clock ticking and overs running out. 

Simpson was also having a testing time against Potts, with the England man sending a couple past the Sussex captain’s outside edge, but he responded by playing a crunching cover drive off Raine for four.

Potts came so close to a breakthrough, but Ollie Robinson dropped Simpson on 77 as the Sussex skipper gloved one down the legside, but Conners got him soon after for 85 when he chipped one up in the air and Lees produced an excellent catch at mid-off. 

Ibrahim then reached his first century of the season from 264 deliveries with a single on the legside. 

The 20-year-old guided his side to tea alongside Fynn Hudson-Prentice, who tried to be aggressive after the break but Drissell bowled him for 26 as he missed one completely. 

That brought Jack Carson to the crease who was there with Ibrahim when the two sides settled for a draw.