DURHAM are on the verge of securing promotion to LV= Insurance County Championship Division One after defeating Sussex by seven wickets in their clash at Seat Unique Riverside.

The home side required only one wicket to wrap up the Sussex second innings after reducing the visitors to 263 for nine on day three.

Fynn Hudson-Prentice and Henry Crocombe defied the Durham seamers for 45 minutes before Matt Parkinson secured the final strike to finish with figures of four for 80, and eight for 138 in the match.

Durham lost three wickets in their chase of 57 as Jack Carson found turn out of the fourth-day pitch, ending with figures of three for 15. But Alex Lees and Ollie Robinson guided their team over the line to secure maximum points from the contest. 

Durham need only five points to secure promotion in their next outing, although if Leicestershire fail to beat Sussex next week, the North-East outfit will secure their spot in Division One. 

Resuming day four with a slender lead of 24, Sussex needed a special effort from their last-wicket pair to put the pressure back on the home side. Hudson-Prentice and Crocombe frustrated Ben Raine and Matthew Potts with the new ball, fending off their attempts to wrap up the Sussex innings. 

Raine almost prised out Crocombe, but his outside edge flew through the vacant gap between slip and gully. Scott Borthwick turned to Matt Parkinson and he got the breakthrough in his second over, ending the stand for 45 as Hudson-Prentice advanced down the wicket and failed to connect with his drive, allowing Robinson to whip off the bails

After bowling out Sussex for 295,  the hosts required only 57 runs to secure their sixth win of the season. Carson caused a mild stir in the ranks as bowled Michael Jones before removing Scott Borthwick and David Bedingham in the space of three deliveries.

But the hosts closed out the victory as Ollie Robinson slammed a drive to the fence, taking Durham to the brink of promotion.

“We want to win our next two games of cricket and if we do that it sends a statement that we’ve dominated the league and are ready for Division One,” said Durham skipper Borthwick. “We’ve been amazing all year and we want to finish strongly. If we win the title at Worcestershire then amazing, but we want to win the last two games and finish on a high.

“I knew this team had the potential to be champions and dominate this league. We’ve played with a lot more freedom this year and attacked a lot more to try and win games of cricket. We’re always trying to win and not thinking of the negative side of things. With the potential we have in the dressing room, it was always possible. The shackles were off and we’ve played some amazing cricket.”

Sussex head coach Paul Farbrace accepted his side were second best at Chester-le-Street, and feels Durham would be worthy champions.

“They’re the best team in the division and they played the best cricket,” he said. “We showed some fight and character in terms of how we played on days two and three.
“But when you play against a Durham team, who are the best team in the division, when they were put in positions where they could capitalise, they knew how to do it.”