Three wickets apiece for seamers as visitors are bowled out for 162

ECB Reporters Network20-Sep-2022

Matthew Potts was in the wickets once again for Durham•Getty Images

Durham made the most of bowling friendly conditions at Seat Unique Riverside on Day 1 of the LV Insurance County Championship as they bowled Sussex out for just 162..After winning the toss and asking the visitors to bat, Matthew Potts and Ben Raine bowled a lengthy opening spell interspersed with a rain delay to leave Sussex 47 for 3 at the lunch interval.Wickets continued to fall after the break, Paul Coughlin chipping in as Sussex’s young batting line-up struggled to deal with the moving ball under the floodlights, Ali Orr and Faheem Ashraf the only batters to score more than 30.Lower-order resistance from Sussex saw the score tick past 150, before Oliver Gibson bowled Sean Hunt to end the innings on 162, Potts and Coughlin leading the way with three wickets each.Hunt then got his revenge by pinning Sean Dickson lbw for 14, as the light constantly threatened to take the players off, and eventually succeeded at 5.25pm with Durham 54 for 1.It was the perfect toss to win for Scott Borthwick, with the floodlights being on from start of play to close and it was a no brainer to send Sussex into bat. The home side made the perfect start as Potts had Sussex skipper Tom Haines caught behind in his second over. Raine then dismissed Tom Alsop and Tom Clark before lunch.Wickets fell at regular intervals for Sussex, Dan Ibrahim edging behind to emergency loan signing Chris Benjamin, before Orr’s luck ran out as Potts cleaned up his stumps. Coughlin then gave the same treatment to James Coles, debutant Charlie Tear survived a while before eventually falling to Gibson. Faheem Ashraf and Jack Carson provided some light resistance, before Durham cleaned it up to leave Sussex 162 all outDurham made a steady start to their 1st innings, before Dickson was pinned to a Hunt delivery which kept low. Skipper Borthwick and Michael Jones then saw them through to the early close.