Wells cuts loose with double-ton as Sussex dominate

Sussex 452 for 4 (Wells 258, van Zyl 141*) lead Durham 287 by 165 runs
Scorecard

On Friday, Luke Wells returned from a knee injury to play his first match for eight months. He was greeted by one of the worst sights for a batsman in cricket: a 90 mph inswinging yorker from Kagiso Rabada down the slope at Hove. As he trudged off for a golden duck, Wells laughed at his own ill fortune in receiving such a delivery. The sport can be cruel like that.

But it can also give generously, enough to make up for all the fallow and infuriating times. For Wells, this was such a day: the best of his cricketing career yet, and the sort that he might never repeat.

It was not merely about the runs he scored, all 258 of them. It was about the manner in which he scored them. Wells, a batsman with a reputation for adhesive defence, was transformed into a hitter of brutal belligerence.

Consider how he handled the 87th over of the day, from Ryan Pringle's offspin. First, Wells used his huge stride to gallivant down the wicket and heave an emphatic straight six, a shot of such dominance that Graham Clark, at long-off, was reduced to applauding. Then, he pulled Pringle over square leg for another six. Next, staying in his crease, he again launched him straight, this time into the hospitality seating at long-off for a third consecutive six.

The fourth ball scuppered hopes of an encore of Garry Sobers' feat at Swansea in 1968, but it brought no relief for Pringle - Wells' late, precise square cut still went for four. So did a slog-sweep the following ball. In the circumstances, Pringle could be forgiven for delivering an egregious full toss, which Wells launched over midwicket for another six and, with it, brought up his maiden 250. As if that was not bad enough for Durham, the final delivery was a no-ball to boot. Wells, almost repentant for inflicting such misery upon his opponent, defended the extra ball into the off side, promoting sarcastic cries of "Get on with it" from a few heady supporters.

Thirty-four runs had come from Pringle's over, and 32 from Wells's bat: not bad for a player ordinarily considered a first-class specialist, and whose top score in 50-over or Twenty20 cricket is just 23.

So imperious was his batsmanship that Stiaan van Zyl was reduced to the role of incidental extra even as he scored an undefeated 141; at one point, Wells scored a full fifty, to progress from 157 to 207, while van Zyl faced a solitary ball.

If the carnage was not expected of Wells, capitalising on his start was: this was his 36th first-class score over 50, and the 14th time he has converted it to a century. And it was built upon familiar foundations: the assiduous leaves against the new ball; the impeccable straight bat; the driving, especially straight, interspersed with cuts and leg-side flicks. Then, like a gawky teenager discovering alcohol for the first time, Wells experienced a new and thrilling sensation; as he flicked Chris Rushworth over fine leg with no discernible effort, one of his seven sixes, he must have felt a man intoxicated.

All the while, van Zyl carried on too. If his century was forgettable set against carnage at the other end, it contributed to history: a partnership of 376, the highest ever third-wicket stand against Durham. The previous highest? That would be Trevor Penney and Brian Lara in 1994, when Lara was en route to his 501. In the closing stages of his innings, Wells felt almost as dominant.

By the time he scythed Paul Coughlin to Keaton Jennings to be dismissed, Wells had also made family history, usurping his father Alan's career best: "I've always wanted to beat him in something."

Intriguingly, he credited his red-ball best to intensive training in limited-overs cricket, in an attempt to force his way back into the side. "The white-ball practice that I've been doing with Mike Yardy and the other guys has really been paying off - especially against the spinners I feel a lot more dynamic. I can score at a better rate now without taking any undue risks - just natural batting." It is a window into how the norms of modern batting are being peeled back, and even batsmen renowned as austere are capable of pyrotechnics.

Though van Zyl was altogether more restrained, he gave evidence of why he had earned 12 Tests for South Africa. He used his feet dextrously against Pringle and late cut exquisitely against seam to record his maiden Championship century for Sussex. Only just after reaching the landmark, when edging Pringle to Paul Collingwood, who shelled a tricky catch at first slip, did he offer a chance. Wells was chanceless throughout; Sussex utterly imperious.

It seemed an age ago that Graham Onions had found away movement to snare Chris Nash with the morning's fourth ball. His back injury, rendering him unable to bowl, was a cause and symbol of Durham's dreadful day.