A SPELL of three for none in five balls by Liam Plunkett, followed by another good innings from Mark Stoneman, sped Durham to a nine-wicket win against Sussex at Riverside yesterday.

Plunkett's burst knocked the last remaining resistance out of the champions and they were all out for 131, leaving Durham to score 107.

Stoneman followed his 101 in the first innings with 46 and skipper Dale Benkenstein said: "To score those runs against the new ball on this pitch at 20 shows a lot of character. He's going to be a really good player.

"Liam bowled with good pace this morning. He's still learning his game, but he's also going to be a very good cricketer.

"It might look as though we won this game comfortably but it was a really tough contest. If Sussex had got another 50 or 60 runs they would have been up for the challenge. All I asked for this morning was commitment, and our bowling in the second innings was outstanding - really aggressive."

Sussex appeared to throw in the towel once skipper Chris Adams had been pinned lbw by a fast yorker, which he felt might have missed leg stump. He was the second victim for Plunkett, who can look out of sorts but rarely fails to make a contribution.

With Rana Naved-ul-Hasan unable to bat because of his dislocated shoulder, Sussex's last four wickets went down for nine runs.

Di Venuto and Stoneman comfortably put on 81 in 20 overs against dispirited opponents, who knew the pitch had been prepared to suit Durham's seamers rather than the visiting spinners.

If that were the case Durham could hardly be blamed after what they had to suffer at Blackpool last week, when Lancashire were fortunate to escape an eight-point deduction.

It was because Durham left more grass on the pitch and backed their seamers that off-spinner Paul Wiseman bowled only six overs in the match, resulting in the slow over-rate and a one-point deduction.

But Adams had no complaints, saying: "We use the conditions at Hove to favour us and Durham got this right tactically, as most sides have done against us on their own grounds this season.

"I don't think Durham would have wanted to chase 200, but they had a chance to come at us hard at the end of the second day and they bowled brilliantly. They look like a proper team now. They know what they are doing."

Adams also gave Durham some cause for optimism next week as Murray Goodwin will miss Sussex's final game because of his mother's funeral in Australia. With Rana Naved ruled out, Sussex are unable to call on James Kirtley because he is with the England Twenty20 squad.

Spinners Mushtaq Ahmed and Saqlain Mushtaq both have sore knees, which contributed to their lack of action yesterday.

Following Warwickshire's relegation, the top three are all playing teams with nothing at stake next week and all Durham can do is go all out for maximum points.

They certainly went flat out yesterday morning, knowing that if they removed Adams, who was on 31, the path to victory would be clear. The alternative was unattractive, given that he scored 193 against them at Horsham two months ago.

Adams would have been lbw to Ottis Gibson in the third over had he not edged the ball into his pads and in the same over he edged a four over first slip.

On 37 he also survived a very sharp return chance to Mark Davies, but the Teessider had already removed Andrew Hodd, who offered no stroke to a ball which took out his middle stump.

Gibson opted for hostility, with men around the bat. It was a tactic he tried against Stuart Law in Lancashire's second innings at Blackpool and again it did not work for a man who has taken most of his recent wickets through swing and guile.

But when Plunkett replaced him he also tried a bouncer and Robin Martin-Jenkins' attempted hook resulted in a catch to Phil Mustard.

Adams followed for 44, Mushtaq edged the next ball to Di Venuto at second slip, and Saqlain slogged Davies to mid-on.

Mushtaq came on with Durham's score on 40 after 11 overs but bowled only one over as Di Venuto drove two full tosses for four.

Durham needed 40 at lunch, and although they formed their usual huddle on the resumption it was clear Sussex were saving their key men for next week as they turned to the occasional spin of Chris Nash and Michael Yardy.

Stoneman departed when he chipped Nash to mid-wicket, leaving Kyle Coetzer to score 21 off 19 balls as Di Venuto remained unbeaten on 35.