AFTER landing two trophies during his three-year stint as captain, Dale Benkenstein wanted Durham to progress under a new leader. In time, they will also have to learn to survive without his runs.

Following his 181 at Taunton and 77 not out in the Friends Provident Trophy win against Surrey, he led a recovery from 104 for five at Hove yesterday, making 136 out of a total of 318 for seven.

With Liam Plunkett making a very responsible 65 not out, the pair were dominant in the half-hour before Benkenstein was caught at deep mid-wicket three overs before the close.

Their stand of 148 took Durham to a third batting point with the promise of more to come, when none had looked likely.

As at Taunton, Benkenstein battled stoically through a sticky period in the first hour after lunch, then made sure he cashed in on the final 30 overs with the old ball.

A delicate late cut for four off Luke Wright was followed by a magnificent straight six off the occasional off spin of Chris Nash to take him into the 90s.

Having taken 110 balls to reach 50, he completed his century off a further 73 and moved ahead of Jon Lewis in the Durham list with 13 first-class hundreds. He is one behind joint leaders John Morris and Paul Collingwood.

Towards the end, Sussex resorted to trying to get him caught off a miscued pull.

Three fours resulted as he continued to find the middle of the bat and the gaps in the field, but Damian Wright persevered and it finally paid off.

Phil Mustard and Plunkett both showed growing maturity in lending valuable support, and the wicketkeeper was unfortunate to be adjudged lbw just when he was starting to blossom.

He was trying to leg glance Robin Martin-Jenkins and it is very difficult for a right-arm bowler to get an lbw when swinging the ball from leg to off against a left-hander. But umpire John Holder was in no doubt.

Until a solid cloud cover rolled over at tea-time it had been a bright and breezy day at Brighton, but with the pitch showing some signs of variable bounce, batting was not easy until the original ball was 50 overs old.

Had Benkenstein gone for nought Durham would have been in real trouble on 41 for four. But the edged four which got him off the mark just evaded second slip. It was also in that position that he survived the one difficult chance he offered on 19.

Durham did not get the start they wanted after winning the toss, with Mark Stoneman losing his bearings to depart for one in the fourth over. The young left-hander stepped back and across to turn Damian Wright towards mid-wicket 20 and had his leg bail trimmed.

Wright also troubled Will Smith, whose last scoring stroke was an edged four. That took him to 12, but he fell shaping to drive a ball from Robin Martin-Jenkins, which swung in late to have him lbw.

In the next over, Wright got the wicket he really wanted, although there was an element of luck about the way he had fellow Tasmanian Michael Di Venuto caught down the leg side by wicketkeeper Andrew Hodd.

The inconsistent bounce was most evident in a lively spell after lunch by Luke Wright. Gordon Muchall looked nicely settled on 24 when a ball took off from just short of a length and the resultant edge flew hard and fast to Hodd, wide of his right shoulder. He hung on to an excellent reflex catch.

The next ball was short and Ian Blackwell started to rock out of the way. But it bounced only to stump height and hit his bat to earn a single.

Blackwell added only one more, however, before he shaped to turn Corey Collymore to mid-wicket and was lbw.

Mustard followed Benkenstein’s example in digging in as only 28 runs came in the next hour. But then the wicketkeeper pulled Martin-Jenkins for four and the runs started to flow.

It was a shock when Benkenstein departed, but Plunkett will hope today to pass his firstclass best of 74 not out, made against Somerset at Stockton four years ago.

Scoreboard

Sussex v Durham At Hove

Durham Won Toss

Durham First Innings Close

M J Di Venuto c Hodd b D G Wright .....20

M D Stoneman b D G Wright ............... 2

W R Smith lbw b Martin-Jenkins ...........12

G J Muchall c Hodd b L J Wright ..........24

D M Benkenstein c Nash b D G Wright .... 136

I D Blackwell lbw b Collymore .............. 2

P Mustard lbw b Martin-Jenkins ..........32

L E Plunkett not out ............................65

C D Thorp not out ............................... 8

Extras (b1 lb9 w1 nb6 pens 0) ....17

Total 7 wkts (96 overs)........318

Fall: 1-10 2-37 3-41 4-101 5-104 6-162 7-310

To Bat: M E Claydon, S J Harmison.

Collymore 18-4-74-1. D G Wright 25-10-57- 3. Martin-Jenkins 15-4-60-2. Rayner 14-1-36- 0. L J Wright 17-2-57-1. Hamilton-Brown 2- 1-2-0. Nash 5-0-22-0.