Durham vs Sussex | Day Three

Debutant Gurinder Sandhu starred for Sussex on day three of their Rothesay County Championship clash with Durham, but the match is edging towards a draw after a mix of rain and bad light caused play to end early at Banks Homes Riverside. 

Durham had a tough morning with Australian Sandhu (5/83) taking the role of chief tormentor, picking up a five-wicket haul on debut as Durham lost their final four wickets for 26 runs to leave them on 327, a first innings deficit of 34. 

Durham bounced back through Matthew Potts after lunch to put Sussex under pressure at 27 for three, but James Coles was once again a thorn in the home team’s side as he led a Sussex recovery with another fifty. 

After several disruptions because of rain and bad light across the afternoon, play finished early with Sussex on 111 for four at close, 145 runs ahead.

Resuming on 249 for five, it was Graham Clark and Bas de Leede’s job to get Durham quick runs and whittle down the 112 deficit as soon as possible. 

Durham’s top run scorer Clark continued his fine form as he reached fifty from 89 balls, but Sussex bowlers Ollie Robinson and Sandhu restricted run making opportunities with a new ball, which was taken just prior to close on day two. 

Robinson got the breakthrough for Sussex removing Clark for 51 as the Durham man attempted to pull a short ball, but he got an edge through to John Simpson behind the stumps. 

George Drissell came to the crease as Jofra Archer began his first spell of the day, but he and de Leede managed to negate a four-over burst successfully. 

Durham broke the Sussex shackles as de Leede pulled back-to-back Sandhu balls to the boundary, but the Australian bounced back as Drissell pulled a short one straight to Fynn Hudson-Prentice who was running in from the boundary, which left Durham seven down. 

Things went from bad to worse for Durham as Sandhu got his fourth, removing Ben Raine for 10 as he chipped one straight to Tom Clark at cover. Then Potts didn’t last long as he edged a Robinson delivery behind to Simpson for two. 

Sussex then wrapped up the Durham first innings as Sandhu picked up the final wicket, with Sam Conners caught behind for seven. 

Sussex’s second innings got off to a bad start as Potts struck without a run on the board, with the England man getting Daniel Hughes for a two-ball duck as he chopped on to his off-stump. 

Durham got the Kookaburra ball talking as Ben Raine got Tom Clark for 10, with the Sussex number three edging behind to Ollie Robinson behind the stumps. Potts then got his second, bowling Tom Haines for 12 to leave Sussex in trouble. 

First innings centurion Coles and Danial Ibrahim soaked up some pressure as the task for Sussex changed from quick runs to survival. 

Two rain delays either side of seven deliveries from Conners and de Leede delayed Durham’s hunt for wickets, with an early tea taken. 

Coles, who batted so well on day one, flicked a Conners delivery off his legs for four and he followed that with a nice shot through third region off the bowling of de Leede. 

He then pulled a Conners delivery to the boundary, which continued his excellent match, but there was yet another interruption as the players went off for bad light, which preceded more rain. 

Coles resumed after a third delay with a crunching straight drive off Drissell, and he passed fifty for the second time in the match with it coming from 65 balls. 

The 21-year-old then lost his wicket as Raine bowled him for 53, but the players were off for bad light soon after and when the rain started again, play ended prematurely, with the game drifting towards a draw.