County Championship: Durham dominate Sussex on day two

Michael Jones was one of four Durham batters to score more than 80, though none of them went on to complete centuries

Four Durham batters posted half-centuries as the hosts took complete control of their County Championship Division Two match with Sussex.

Michael Jones (96), Scott Borthwick (82), Nic Maddinson (90) and Chris Benjamin (82) helped the hosts gain full batting points with a total of 459-7 declared on day two at Chester-le-Street.

And Sussex ended the day in deep trouble on 6-3, still 291 runs short of making Durham bat again.

In blue sky conditions, captain Borthwick wasted no time in pushing Durham forward, as he and Jones reached their half-centuries before lunch as the hosts wiped out the remaining deficit from Sussex's first-innings score of 162.

James Coles struck after lunch, removing Borthwick lbw before having Jones caught down the legside by debutant keeper Charlie Tear four runs short of a century.

Maddinson added 50-run partnerships with David Bedingham and Benjamin before he chopped on for 90 off Faheem Ashraf as Durham pushed towards a declaration.

Bad light played its part again as the teams left the field just before 17:00 BST, with Durham short of maximum batting points.

But the brief delay did not stop their progress as when they returned Paul Coughlin and Ben Raine earned Durham the final batting point.

Sussex only faced 21 deliveries before stumps, but it was plenty of time for Durham to turn the screw.

Ali Orr was run out for four following a mix up with Tom Haines, before Ben Raine removed Tom Alsop and Tom Clark for ducks before bad light ended play early again.

Report supplied by the ECB Reporters' Network.