DURHAM made the most of bowling-friendly conditions at Seat Unique Riverside on day one of their LV= Insurance County Championship game with Sussex as they as they bowled their opponents out for just 162.

After winning the toss and asking the visitors to bat, Matthew Potts and Ben Raine bowled a lengthy opening spell interspersed with a rain delay to leave Sussex 47-3 at the lunch interval.

Wickets continued to fall after the break, Paul Coughlin chipping in as Sussex’s young batting line-up struggled to deal with the moving ball under the floodlights, Ali Orr and Faheem Ashraf the only batters to score more than 30.

Lower-order resistance from Sussex saw the score tick past 150, before Oliver Gibson bowled Sean Hunt to end the innings on 162, Potts and Coughlin leading the way with three wickets each.

Hunt then got his revenge by pinning Sean Dickson leg before, as the light constantly threatened to take the players off, and eventually succeeded at 5.25pm with Durham on 54-1.

It was the perfect toss to win for Scott Borthwick, with the floodlights being on from start of play to close and it was a no-brainer to send Sussex into bat.

The home side made the perfect start as Potts had Sussex skipper Tom Haines caught behind in his second over. Raine then dismissed Tom Alsop and Tom Clark before lunch.

Wickets fell at regular intervals for Sussex, Dan Ibrahim edging behind to emergency loan signing Chris Benjamin, before Ali Orr’s luck ran out as Potts cleaned up his stumps.

Coughlin then gave the same treatment to James Coles, debutant Charlie Tear survived a while before eventually falling to Oliver Gibson. Faheem Ashraf and Jack Carson provided some light resistance, before Durham cleaned it up to leave Sussex 162 all out

Durham made a steady start to their first innings, before Dickson was pinned to a Hunt delivery which kept low.

Borthwick and Michael Jones then saw them through to 54-1, when the umpires took the sides from the field for bad light and ended the day’s play.

Meanwhile, Durham have announced that Dickson will leave the club at the end of the season in order to join Somerset because of family circumstances.

The 31-year-old joined Durham on loan from Kent in 2020 before signing a permanent deal ahead of the 2021 season and has spent the past two-and-a-half seasons in the North-East.

He has made 44 appearances for Durham across all formats, scoring a best of 186 against Sussex in the County Championship this summer and racking up five centuries during his time at the club.

Durham director of cricket, Marcus North, said: “Sean has been an outstanding member on and off the field since joining the club two years ago.

“Unfortunately for Durham, Sean has requested to leave so he can relocate to the south of England to be with his fiancé, his daughter Remi and family.

We thank him for his contribution and wish him success in the future at Somerset.”

Dickson added: “I have loved my time at Durham. It has been an absolute pleasure to represent the North-East as a region and Durham Cricket.

"I would like to thank Durham for understanding my situation. I wish the club and team all the best for the future.”