Lees, Clark a whole lot assist Durham into place of energy

Durham 424 for five (Lees 103, Clark 102*, de Leede 71*, Robinson 67, Borthwick 56) lead Sussex 266 by 158 runs

Lees continued his excellent kind this season with a knock of 103 from 155 balls to offer the inspiration of the innings, notching his fifth Championship century of the season. He shared a stand of 146 with Scott Borthwick, who notched a gritty fifty in assist of the left-hander.

Clark capitalised on a weary Sussex bowling assault late within the day with a flurry of boundaries to notch his second hundred of the time period. Ollie Robinson and Bas de Leede compounded Durham’s place of energy with half-centuries of their very own. At the shut, the house aspect moved right into a dominant 158-run lead with 5 wickets remaining with Clark and de Leede nonetheless on the crease.

In want of early wickets to shift the momentum of the sport, Sussex didn’t have to attend lengthy for the breakthrough as Aristides Karvelas discovered Michael Jones’ outdoors edge from the fourth ball of the day. But, Lees settled into his rhythm to counterattack for the hosts, taking three boundaries from Karvelas’ second over.

The former England opener eased his technique to his fifty from 72 balls, that includes two spectacular strikes in opposition to Karvelas and Jack Carson that cleared the rope. Borthwick provided a reassuring complement on the different finish, though he was not fairly as fluent. Borthwick survived an inside edge and a nick via the slip cordon earlier than discovering his timing to publish his third fifty of the marketing campaign.

Lees and Borthwick shared a stand price 146 for the second wicket earlier than Carson discovered bounce out of the floor to prise out the Durham skipper for 56. Jaydev Unadkat then claimed the essential wicket of David Bedingham, who picked out square-leg with a unfastened shot.

Lees remained unfettered on the different finish and continued his excellent Championship kind by registering one other century, handing the England selectors one more reminder of his expertise.

However, he was becalmed after reaching three figures via a spell of correct bowling from Unadkat. The introduction of Carson introduced the error from the left-hander as he steered a slog-sweep straight to Hudson-Prentice on the leg-side boundary.

Robinson labored to maintain Durham in control of the competition, having not performed a aggressive recreation in six weeks after being not noted of Northern Superchargers’ line-up for his or her Hundred matches. The wicketkeeper confirmed no indicators of rust and produced a fluent knock of 67 from 66 balls, together with 10 fours and one most earlier than he was pinned lbw by Carson.

Durham nonetheless had work forward of them to show a stable place right into a match-winning alternative. Clark and de Leede absorbed stress initially from Carson and James Coles earlier than the arrival of the brand new ball. The duo then pressed the accelerator to push the hosts right into a 100-run lead producing a flurry of boundaries to punish an ailing assault, including 77 from the opening 13 overs from the brand new ball.

Clark earned his reward for a stable defence and introduced up his fourth half-century of the time period, whereas de Leede was not far behind him in recording his third fifty, sharing an unbeaten stand of 159.

Clark upped the ante within the closing overs and surged via the nineties with three successive boundaries to file a deserved ton, capping a wonderful day for the hosts of their bid to safe promotion.