Having just gone to the top of the LV County Championship first division, Durham could perhaps allow themselves a rare off-day in the one-day game. Indeed, that is what it looked like as Sussex, chasing 224 in 38 overs, were in cruise mode at 160 for two in the 28th over.

Needing just 60 in ten overs, they then put themselves in peril when their running, previously a feature of the chase, began to over-reach itself and Durham's accuracy in hitting the stumps produced four direct-hit dismissals. That helped to ensure a tight finish, with Ollie Rayner using all of the last three balls to score the necessary single to secure victory. Finally, he made it thanks to a fumble at mid-off by Durham's normally unflappable captain, Dale Benkenstein.

Put in by Sussex, Durham struggled for some time on an initially awkward pitch. Robin Martin-Jenkins excelled in bowling his eight overs unchanged, taking two for 22 - a spell that was closely mirrored, later, by Mark Davies for Durham, while all other bowlers conceded a steady stream of runs.

The main contributor to Durham's 221 for six was Phil Mustard, his 82, with 12 fours and two thumping sixes, setting an intriguing challenge for his England wicketkeeping rival, Matt Prior. Prior likewise opened the batting for his side and, although not quite so prolific in boundaries, scored at around the same rate as Mustard - and, with Luke Wright, ran brilliantly between the wickets.

His approach when Liam Plunkett came on to bowl was eye-catching: he lifted the first ball wide of mid-on for four and chanced his arm further by taking, in all, 14 runs from an over that did not contain a bad ball. But on 79 he fell to a deft piece of work by his rival. A full-length leg-side ball from Graham Onions bobbled from bat and pad. Mustard took two paces, gathered the ball and reverse flicked it on to the stumps with Prior momentarily outside his crease - and disbelieving at his downfall.

For all Durham's depth in quality seam bowling, it needed the captain to bowl a full quota of overs to restrain Sussex, along with the direct hits. Fourteen were needed from the last two overs, and ten from seven balls left - at which point Martin-Jenkins made a telling blow, giving himself room to hit Onions to extra cover for four. After that, Rayner could afford to take his time over the elusive winning single.

Durham
M J Di Venuto lbw b Martin-Jenkins 7
P Mustard b Rayner 82
W R Smith lbw b Martin-Jenkins 22
S Chanderpaul b Rayner 30
*D M Benkenstein c Hopkinson b Hamilton-Brown 21
G R Breese b Hamilton-Brown 15
L E Plunkett not out 27
B W Harmison not out 1
Extras (lb 7, w 1, nb 8) 16
Total (6 wkts, 38 overs) 221

C D Thorp, G Onions and M Davies did not bat.

Fall of wickets: 1-14, 2-58, 3-155, 4-156, 5-184, 6-211.

Bowling: Martin-Jenkins 8-1-22-2; Kirtley 6-0-36-0; Wright 7-1-52-0; Liddle 3-0-29-0; Rayner 8-0-31-2; Hamilton-Brown 6-0-44-2.

Sussex
C D Nash c Thorp b Davies 25
*M J Prior st Mustard b Onions 79
L J Wright lbw b Benkenstein 27
M W Goodwin run out 25
D R Smith c Breese b Benkenstein 4
C D Hopkinson run out 12
R J Hamilton-Brown run out 21
R S C Martin-Jenkins not out 11
O P Rayner not out 9
Extras (lb 5, w 6) 11
Total (7 wkts, 38 overs) 224

C J Liddle and R J Kirtley did not bat.

Fall of wickets: 1-45, 2-107, 3-160, 4-162, 5-176, 6-179, 7-209.

Bowling: Davies 8-0-22-1; Thorp 8-0-42-0; Plunkett 3-0-37-0; Breese 5-0-32-0; Benkenstein 8-0-50-2; Onions 6-0-36-1.

Umpires: J W Holder and R T Robinson.