Cricket: Six-shooter Gibson Takes on the Mighty Mushtaq But Classy Sussex Have Last Word

The champions Sussex were back on top of the table last night after inflicting yet another innings defeat on their supposed title challengers Durham. In the standings the two sides may be only three places and less than 20 points apart, but starting the second half of the championship season Sussex are again becoming the team to beat.

Yesterday's was Sussex's third successive innings victory over Durham and their bowlers took just 80 minutes of the third day to settle an issue that had been one-sided from the start, even though Ottis Gibson and Dale Benkenstein did manage Durham's biggest partnership of the game and Mushtaq Ahmed for once failed to take five wickets in a Durham innings.

He finished one short of what would have been his 100th domestic "five-for" since making his debut for Multan as a 16-year-old way back in 1986, but at least had the consolation of yet again passing 50 wickets in a season for Sussex. For Mushtaq 32 of those five-wicket hauls have come in his five seasons at Hove and this victory, like so many others, was based on his first-day contribution which started in the ninth over of the game and ended five wickets and 26 unchanged overs later.

On Saturday Chris Adams rubbed in Sussex's superiority with a brisk 193 - 23 fours and five sixes - before Durham crumbled to 108 for six (effectively seven, with Steve Harmison's injury) by the close. Still 200 away from making Sussex bat again, Gibson and Benkenstein did at least go down fighting.

Benkenstein feasted on anything short - and there was too much - from Rana Naved while Gibson tucked into Mushtaq, showing utter disdain for the Pakistani's remarkable record at Horsham. Twice in the first innings he lofted the wrist spinner for sixes. Yesterday he opened with an on-drive into the grass tennis courts at very deep midwicket and followed it with a sweep into the clubhouse bar.

The straightest of hits then bounced into and out of the hard courts 40 yards behind the sightscreen (lost ball), and a delicate cut brought up his half-century off 66 balls before a horrible smear just about cleared the boards at long-on to take the all-rounder to 68.

Mushtaq, as usual, had the final word, but that one wicket cost him 55 runs and had taken 11 overs. Luckily for Sussex, they always seem to have options. The local boy Chris Nash, who first played for Horsham when he was seven, made 63 in the Sussex innings while Andy Hodd, standing in for the England wicketkeeper Matt Prior, followed up a maiden first-class century with 72 to bolster Adams' good work.

Yesterday, with Naved out of sorts and Mushtaq suffering, the useful work was done by Robin Martin-Jenkins who conjured up two full-length deliveries which accounted for Benkenstein - one ball after he had reached his fifty - and then Liam Plunkett.

Going into the match Sussex's coach, Mark Robinson, had raised a few eyebrows by suggesting that the champions were better placed than in 2006 even though they were 45 points worse off.

Yesterday, after three wins and two draws in the last championship matches no one was arguing, especially as another world-class spinner, Saqlain Mushtaq, is waiting in the wings. After impressing the Indians last week, Saqlain came close to being selected for Horsham.

Durham are going away to think about consecutive three-day defeats. "The first division is a pretty high standard and if there are weaknesses they will be exposed, as ours have been," said their coach, Geoff Cook.