Durham toil on a tough final day at the Riverside

A WATCHFUL century from Danial Ibrahim and a gritty 85 from John Simpson frustrated Durham on the final day of their Rothesay County Championship meeting with Sussex at Chester-le-Street.

- By THOMAS RIDLEY

The pair protected their position in the match, with a probing opening spell from Matthew Potts the most trouble the batters faced on a sedate final morning.

Simpson and Ibrahim got the Sussex lead past 200 and resumed after lunch. Sam Conners removed Simpson 15 runs short of another century, but Ibrahim remained calm to reach three figures for the second time in his First Class career.

Sussex finished on 322 for six with the teams shaking hands at 4.50 pm.