County Championship: Cheteshwar Pujara hits ton as Sussex close on Durham total

Cheteshwar Pujara has 57 first-class tons to his name

India batsman Cheteshwar Pujara scored a sixth hundred in only his ninth game for Sussex to frustrate Durham on day two at Hove.

The 35-year-old, who has taken over as captain this season, made 115 to dominate the Sussex reply to Durham's 376 all out, with Oli Carter (41) the next highest scorer.

Nathan McAndrew (5-85) had Ben Raine caught at second slip and wrapped up the Durham innings when Potts was last man out, caught behind driving ,a good fight back after the visitors had been 224-2 on day one.

After sharing 112 in 32 overs with Carter for the fifth wicket, Pujara was one of three wickets to fall after tea before Nathan McAndrew (36 not out) helped the hosts reach 332-9 at stumps, trailing by 44.

Last season Pujara scored 1,094 runs at an average of 109 and on this evidence it will be a surprise if he does not do even better in 2023.

He had come to the crease after Sussex lost both their openers in the 10th over.

Ali Orr, the day after his 22nd birthday, was run out backing up too far when Raine deflected Tom Haines' straight drive onto the stumps. The same fate had befallen the unfortunate Orr in his final innings of last season against Glamorgan when he was out for 198.

Two balls later, Raine found enough away movement to defeat Haines' forward push and, after Pujara and his vice-captain Tom Alsop had taken the total to 86, Sussex suffered further strife as Alsop (10) and Tom Clark (four) both played on to leave their side on 91-4.

But once the new ball lost its hardness a crowd of nearly 2,000 were able to enjoy the spring sunshine - and the sight of Pujara elegantly moving through the gears.

A force through the back foot off Raine took him to his fifty and there was never much doubt that he would convert it into a century as he punished anything loose and collected runs all around the wicket.

His hundred came in some style, too, as he took three boundaries in four balls off Brydon Carse, audaciously upper-cutting a short ball over the slips followed by an on-drive down the ground and a trademark back-foot punch to the point boundary.

Carter gave him excellent support until he took a couple of strides down the wicket trying to hit Australian left-arm spinner Matt Kuhnemann over the top and got a thick edge instead.

Debutant Kuhnemann picked up his second wicket when George Garton (28) holed out trying to clear the deep mid-wicket boundary.

Raine then returned to the attack and struck the key blow with his second ball back when Pujara made his only misjudgement of the innings, playing across a straight ball to fall lbw after hitting 14 fours and a straight six off Kuhnemann.

Sussex still trailed by 131 with the tail exposed, but McAndrew and Jack Carson showed their capabilities in a counter-attacking stand of 55 in 12 overs before Carson (29) lost his off stump to Carse on the drive.

McAndrew has so far helped the last four wickets add 87. It completed an excellent day for the 29-year-old Australian, who earlier became the first Sussex overseas bowler since compatriot Steve Magoffin in 2016 to take five wickets in an innings.

Report supplied by the ECB Reporters' Network