Durham 310-7 (50 overs)
Sussex 259 (46.3 overs)
Durham win by 51 runs
Report by Thomas Ridley on behalf of the ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay
A brilliant century from Ollie Robinson and an excellent all-round effort from Will Rhodes led Durham to a 51-run victory over Sussex in the Metro Bank One Day Cup.
Robinson’s counter-attacking century, which was his first List A ton for Durham, supported by a gutsy innings from Rhodes fired Durham to a total of 310-7 from their 50 overs, with Archie Lenham the pick of the Sussex bowlers.
The Sussex chase got off to a poor start as they found themselves 86-4 at one point although middle-order runs from Danny Lamb dragged his side back in the game.
Rhodes, however, secured Durham the opening day victory with his first ever List A five-wicket haul.
Sussex won the toss at a sunny Roseworth Terrace and elected to bowl first. They got off to a great start too as Alex Lees edged a Fynn Hudson-Prentice delivery behind to Charlie Tear in the opening over.
Rhodes and Emilio Gay settled Durham down after the early loss and reached 50 in the powerplay as the former produced a crunching straight drive for four.
Rhodes then reached his half-century from 43 balls on his List A debut for Durham while Gay started to show some aggression as he took the aerial route to find the cover boundary.
Gay then tried to launch a Jack Carson delivery down the ground for six but he was caught well by Ari Karvelas for 34.
Sussex then struck again as Lamb bowled Colin Ackermann for 14 to leave things finely poised.
Ollie Robinson joined Rhodes at the crease and looked to be proactive as he pulled a Lenham ball for four and followed it with a cut shot on the back foot that also went for four.
Rhodes then hit the first maximum of the day as he gave a Carson ball the treatment with a beautiful slog sweep.
Robinson then got his fifty from 47 balls, reaching the milestone with a six, but Rhodes fell four short of his century as Lenham had him caught at deep square. Wickets then came like buses for Sussex as Lamb had Ben Raine caught for six by Tom Haines.
Despite the wickets, Robinson kept the scoreboard ticking over and picked up another maximum as he pulled a Henry Crocombe ball over the ropes.
Haydon Mustard, making his first appearance of the season, also looked to move Durham towards 300 as he picked up a couple of boundaries including a lovely cut shot.
Mustard then fell for a lively 36 but Robinson reached his century off 78 balls to take his side to a big total.
The centurion fell for 100 exactly, Ari Karvelas picking up the wicket, but Durham reached 310-7 at the end of their 50 overs.
In reply, Haines and Danial Ibrahim opened but were soon off to a bad start as Ibrahim was caught behind off the bowling of Codi Yusuf for two.
Durham cranked up the pressure as George Drissell had Tom Clark caught behind for 14.
Haines showed a glimpse of some aggression as he reverse swept Drissell for four but Tear departed for nine after he pulled a Mitch Killeen delivery straight to Yusuf in the deep.
Killeen then struck again as he bowled Haines for 21 as the batter chipped the ball straight to Ackermann at mid-on.
Hudson-Prentice frustrated Durham, taking something a liking to James Minto’s bowling as he smashed one over the square boundary and out of the ground.
It was a big wicket when he fell for 43 as he went for a second run. A throw came in from Yusuf and Robinson whipped the bails off with aplomb.
Oli Carter then hammered one from Drissell down the ground for six and followed that up with a four off Minto.
Danny Lamb then hit Ben Raine for six to boost his team’s hopes and he backed that up with a tidy flick off his legs for four a few balls later.
Lamb continued his charge, dragging his side back into the game with some powerful strokes and reached his fifty from 35 balls.
However, Carter departed for 38 as Rhodes had him caught behind to halt the visitors’ momentum.
Lamb continued his assault on the Durham attack as he pulled a Yusuf ball for four but Rhodes took another wicket, with Carson caught and bowled for four.
Rhodes nabbed his third, removing Lamb for an excellent 74 to leave Durham on the verge of victory.
He then wrapped things up for Durham to bowl Sussex out for 259 and finished with figures of five for 30.
Ollie Robinson, who took six catches for Durham, said: “The pitch suited our attack pretty well. It was good to get a score on the board and the required rate was about 8s for the majority of their innings.
“Without the platform set by Will Rhodes and Emilio Gay we wouldn’t have been able to play as freely in the middle and it just worked out really well. We dug in and did what we needed to do.
“It’s nice to have the change of format – something to get your teeth into – and there’s not as much pressure as T20 batting in this format. You can let there be a few dots.
“We talk about people standing up in different points and Rhodesy (Will Rhodes) has had a tricky year. To get a five-fer and 96 is a pretty special game for him.”
Sussex coach Grant Flower said: “We got outplayed in all departments – batting, bowling and fielding. Durham were the better team today. It’s as simple as that.
“I think they had a few too many. We bowled well in parts but not well enough for the duration and I thought our fielding was sloppy – mistakes, misfields and dropped catches.
“(Archie Lenham) was very good today – one for 37 from 10 in very windy conditions. I thought he did a very good job and hopefully he carries that on in the tournament.
“We got ourselves into a good position and Lamby (Danny Lamb) played really well. He reversed the pressure nicely and he played to his strengths, took on the short boundary and gave us a chance – but it was not quite enough.”
