Borthwick wears down Sussex resistance

For all that Sussex resisted nobly, Durham's bowlers tolerated no denial on the final day of this game.

The leaders of the County Championship had played better cricket than Sussex in the previous three innings of the match, so it was perhaps to be expected that Durham, well-drilled and thirsting, would gain the win that keeps them 29 points clear of Warwickshire at the top of the table, albeit that the Edgbaston side have played a game fewer.

Yet this was no abject capitulation by a county which, prior to the decade in which it won three titles, was famed for its foibles and fallibilities. Instead, a century by Luke Wells and a last-wicket stand of 64 between Ben Brown and Tim Linley delayed Durham's celebrations of their 178-run victory until after the scheduled tea interval.

It was not until well after four o'clock that the strains of Blaydon Races echoed incongruously across to the Downs where Eric Ravilious painted and Edward Thomas wrote. By 4.30 they were putting away the chairs and the ice-cream van was heading back into town. The little world of the five-day festival was being dismantled.

There were early portents that the home side was not ready for meek submission. Although Sussex lost Ed Joyce in the fourth over of the morning when the Sussex skipper came forward to John Hastings but only edged a catch to Michael Richardson, the rest of the morning session was marked by stylish resistance.

The rearguard was led by Wells, who went splendidly from 53 not out overnight to his first hundred of the championship season with a series of crisp straight drives, most of them struck off Chris Rushworth.

Wells did not reach that century until he punched a full toss from Scott Borthwick through the covers just before lunch. Although there were perhaps only 600 spectators at Arundel , many stood and applauded the young opener, thus briefly enlivening two hours' cricket which had often been characterised by both tranquillity and purpose.

Wells's 18th boundary also made him only the second top-order Sussex batsman to reach three figures this season. By the time he joined that very select club, he had lost Chris Nash, who chipped Graham Onions to Rushworth at mid-on just before midday. The ball may have stopped a little but that did not prevent a Durham supporter dancing a curious stiff-armed jig of delight at the Park End.

At the Castle End Sussex diehards were making their own contributions to the morning's fun. As Collingwood's fielders bellowed their leg before appeals against the Lukes, Wells and Wright, a sturdy ancient responded quite as loudly: "No! No! No!" Umpire Jeremy Lloyds agreed and turned the appeals down. A happy breed of men, indeed.

Sussex lunched on 223 for 4 and their spectators began to hope that a draw might be possible, if not one of the most improbable victories in their county's history. The Arundel pitch had continued to ease and both Wells and Wright seemed at ease with the situation. Yet within an hour or so of the resumption five wickets had fallen and we were waiting for the end.

The bowler who did the damage was Borthwick, who arrived at Arundel with three championship wickets to his name and leaves with seven.

As the pitch began to favour the spinners over the seamers, Borthwick and his colleague Ryan Pringle, the off-spinner, came into their own. Indeed, the leg-spinner had spent much of lunch practising his bowling on the outfield.

Pringle struck first when he had Wells caught at slip by Collingwood for 108 when attempting an off-drive in the fifth over after lunch. Four balls later, Wright, on 49, attempted a similar type of shot to Borthwick only for the ball to take the leading edge. The bowler took a two-handed catch, diving to his right.

That left Sussex on 242 for 6 and all talk of heroics was silenced. Instead, people discussed when the match - and with it the festival - might end. Borthwick's removal of both Ajmal Shahzad and George Dockrell, the first stumped, the second caught at the wicket, did nothing to postpone such discussions. Behind the stumps Richardson had five victims and people noted that Durham's record, held by Chris Scott, was only seven. Waitresses sat and chatted in the vacant hospitality marquees.

Magoffin lasted 23 minutes, his stubbornness persuading Collingwood to take the new ball 17 overs after it was due. Sussex's No 10 succumbed in the first over, edging Onions to Gordon Muchall at slip. 271 for 9. Not long now, then.

But this game had yet another treat stored up for its spectators. Brown and Linley batted with utmost assurance against both seam and spin for 18 overs before Brown was lbw to a full length ball from Borthwick for 60. Durham's players gathered in a huddle of delight in mid-pitch. They know that the next big test of their Division One credentials will take place at Chester-le-Street a week on Sunday, when they take on champions Yorkshire.

For their part, Sussex will simply hope for better luck with injuries. Within an hour or so, the players had gone their various ways. In the distance the cathedral and castle were caught in blue and indigo, as vivid as Mont Sainte-Victoire in the late afternoon light.