Two wickets fall on the final day as Durham take 13 points from their Rothesay County Championship clash with Sussex at Banks Homes Riverside.
A watchful century from Danial Ibrahim and a gritty 85 from John Simpson guided Sussex to a draw.
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.
Ben Raine and Matthew Potts take two wickets each on day three of their Rothesay County Championship clash with Sussex, 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 Gurinder 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 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 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 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.
A half-century from Colin Ackermann helped Durham fight back on day two of their Rothesay County Championship clash with Sussex.
James Coles picked up where he left off for Sussex in the morning and took his side to a competitive total of 361 all out, with him finishing unbeaten on 148.
Durham’s response against a Sussex bowling attack which included Archer, got off to a good start, making it to lunch without loss, but they lost skipper Alex Lees just after the break.
Jofra Archer then came into the attack and struck during an exciting spell to leave Durham in a spot of bother in the afternoon.
However, Durham bounced back in the evening through a partnership worth 76 between Ackermann and Graham Clark, but the loss of Ackermann with the last ball of the day gives Sussex the edge, with Durham on 249 for five and the deficit still 112.
Resuming on 322 for nine, unbeaten centurion Coles and number 11 Gurinder Sandhu were at the crease for Sussex.
Coles continued to play nicely as he produced a delightful shot down the ground off the bowling of Bas de Leede.
Coles then used his feet to launch one down the ground from George Drissell, but the spinner wrapped up the innings just three balls later, bowling Sandhu for eight, leaving Coles unbeaten on 148.
Alex Lees and Emilio Gay were tasked with kicking off Durham’s response and they started in a serene manner.
Archer then came into the attack and nearly had Gay with his first ball, but Lees was finding things a bit easier as he played a nice on-drive off the bowling of Sandhu which went to the boundary.
Gay, who initially found life tough against Archer, managed to break the shackles with two boundaries, one through point region and the other off his legs. However, Sussex struck back after lunch as Lees went for 34 when he edged a delivery from Fynn Hudson-Prentice and John Simpson made no mistake behind the stumps.
Hudson-Prentice continued to probe and offered few opportunities for run scoring as Will Rhodes and Gay consolidated after the wicket.
Meanwhile, Archer gave Rhodes and Gay a working over with some short stuff, but the Durham batters weren’t falling for the short ball ploy. The England man changed plans and got that vital wicket as he trapped Gay in front for 37, prompting a big celebration from the 30-year-old.
Archer’s second spell of six overs went for just eight runs, so Durham decided to take the game to Carson as Rhodes and Colin Ackermann picked up a couple of boundaries to relieve some pressure.
Rhodes then played a glorious straight drive from a Robinson ball which went to the boundary, but he then chipped one straight to Daniel Hughes at cover for 24 to hand the economical Hudson-Prentice a second wicket of the day.
That brought Durham’s OIlie Robinson to the crease before tea and he decided to take on Hudson-Prentice, picking up 11 runs from four balls, more than he’d gone for in his previous eight overs.
Archer returned after tea, with Durham’s Robinson edging one which dropped just short of John Simpson, but he bounced back with two consecutive fours including a dab to third region.
Ackermann then played a glorious cover drive off the bowling of Archer for four, but the fluent Robinson fell to Sandhu for 34 as he nicked one down the legside and Simpson produced an excellent diving catch to his left.
Graham Clark came to the crease and absorbed a bit of pressure before he started to put his foot to the accelerator with back-to-back pull shots from Hudson-Prentice going to the boundary and he followed that up with a cut shot for four.
Ackermann joined Clark in the hunt for boundaries when he swept a Coles delivery to the rope and the number four passed fifty for the fourth time this season from 115 balls.
Ackermann, who looked good throughout the innings, was then bowled by Sandhu for 65 with the final ball of the day, which leaves Durham five down while the deficit is still 112.
A resilient unbeaten century from Sussex’s James Coles defied an excellent bowling performance from Durham’s Bas de Leede on day one of their Rothesay County Championship clash.
Ben Raine struck early to give Durham a dream start, but they were pegged back by half-centurion Daniel Hughes, however he was dismissed after lunch to hand Durham the early initiative.
Coles remained calm and composed to steady the ship in the afternoon and he along with captain John Simpson put pressure on the Durham bowlers. However, the hosts bounced back after tea thanks to de Leede (4/83), who bowled well on his first appearance of the season.
Coles remained at the crease and continued to frustrate the hosts and reached his hundred just before close, with Sussex finishing the day on 322 for nine..
Sussex got off to a bad start at an overcast Banks Homes Riverside as Raine removed the in-form Tom Haines for four as he chopped on to his off-stump.
Hughes responded with a lovely boundary through the covers from a Matthew Potts delivery, but the Durham opening bowlers limited Sussex’s run-making opportunities.
At the other end Tom Clark took a while to get going, but he played a glorious cover drive for four in Sam Conners’ first over of the season. Hughes continued to take opportunities to score as he slammed a George Drissell ball down the ground for four.
Drissell struck back for Durham shortly before lunch as he bowled Clark for 30 with one that found the Sussex man’s off-stump.
Hughes then reached his half-century, with it coming from 101 deliveries, but the Australian was bowled for 60 by de Leede, who produced a beauty to dislodge the off-stump.
Coles started nicely to thwart Durham’s bowling attack, but the hosts struck back with Conners picking up his first County Championship wicket of the season as Ibrahim was caught behind for five.
Durham continued to pile on the pressure and they very nearly had their fifth when Ollie Robinson dropped a regulation catch down the legside after Coles nicked a Raine delivery when he was on 35.
Sussex skipper Simpson started well as he launched a Drissell ball down the ground for six.
Coles continued to tick along, taking scoring opportunities whenever they presented themselves, with him playing a lovely shot through the covers from the bowling of Matthew Potts. The Sussex man then passed fifty for the third time this season.
Coles then pulled a de Leede bouncer to the boundary, while Simpson flicked the first ball after tea to the legside boundary. The impressive Conners struck back with Simpson edging behind to Robinson for a well-made 40.
Coles continued to motor though as he caressed a Conners ball through the covers for four and he whipped one through the onside soon after.
Wickets kept on falling at the other end though as de Leede got Fynn Hudson-prentice for five after he chipped one up to Emilio Gay at cover and the Dutchman struck again as Jack Carson was caught behind for two.
Ollie Robinson came to the crease and hit two boundaries, but he was LBW for nine when Raine caught him plumb in front of his stumps.
That brought Jofra Archer to the crease, playing his first red ball game since 2021, and he hit Potts for four through third region.
Coles, on 95, nearly fell short of his ton when a leading edge from Raine found its way to de Leede at backward point, but he was dropped for the second time. Coles reached his fifth First Class century from 169 balls.
Archer looked in good touch with the bat as he slammed a Raine delivery through the covers for four and he then hit de Leede for six, but he was dismissed for 31 from the next ball as he pulled one to Conners on the boundary.
Coles remained unbeaten on 117 at close, taking his side to 322 for nine.