County Championship: Sussex thrive against Durham on day one

Sussex batter Tom Haines has started the season in good form

Sussex enjoyed their best day of the County Championship so far, dismissing Durham for 223 before skipper Tom Haines made his third half-century of the season as they reached 82-1 on the first day at Hove.

Durham's total represented something of a fightback after they had been 75-6, with Liam Trevaskis steering their recovery with a career-best 88.

Aaron Beard, on his Sussex debut after signing for a month from Essex, and Tom Clark both took three wickets with Durham's total looking some way short of par.

Haines and Ali Orr then put conditions in perspective in a first-wicket stand of 68. Haines hit 10 fours, including three in one over off Matt Salisbury, before Matty Potts eventually bowled him off a very thin inside edge for 54.

The pitch looked good for batting but Durham, who won the toss, soon lost opener Alex Lees, who drove loosely at Henry Crocombe and was caught behind in the sixth over.

There were few alarms for Sean Dickson and Keegan Petersen, who took the total to 61 before Clark picked up his first wicket. It was a misjudgement by the batter as Petersen drove off the back foot straight to backward point.

Durham's top order were then blown away in a mad half-hour as five wickets tumbled for 15 runs. Clark picked up Dickson playing across a straight one, and in the next over Beard struck as David Bedingham got a thin edge as he pushed forward.

Haines replaced Beard and had immediate success when Durham skipper Scott Borthwick was well caught in the gully by Orr. In the next over Clark had his third wicket, with Ned Eckersley also leg before playing across the line.

Durham were 79-6 at lunch but Trevaskis and Ben Raine regrouped in the afternoon. There was an extraordinary moment when Crocombe pitched the ball on the second bounce on an adjoining pitch and Trevaskis stepped several yards out of his crease to swipe it down to fine leg.

Their seventh-wicket stand had been worth 53 in 17 overs when Beard struck in the third over of his new spell as Raine fell leg before to a delivery slanted across him.

Leg-spinner Mason Crane has also joined Sussex on a month's loan from Hampshire but Trevaskis greeted his arrival into the attack by hitting successive boundaries to bring up his fifty, and he progressed to a fine 88 in a stand of 87 in 26 overs with Matty Potts.

But Crane returned after tea to have Trevaskis superbly caught at short fine-leg by the diving Orr and Potts held off a too-edged slog sweep in successive overs.

Beard took a return catch off Matt Salisbury to finish with 3-51 while Clark was the pick of the attack with 3-21 from 17 overs.

Durham's attack leader Chris Rushworth needed a concussion check after he was struck on the back of the helmet by Clark's bouncer and he had little luck when he took the new ball as Haines and Orr ensured it was Sussex's day.

Report supplied by the ECB Reporters' Network.