Sussex into finals day as Stokes and Durham falter

Sussex secured their first finals day appearance for six years after beating Durham by five wickets in the Vitality Blast quarter-final at Emirates Riverside.

Fine bowling performances from Danny Briggs (two for 19) and Will Beer (two for 17) restricted the home side to just 140 from their 20 overs. Ben Stokes top scored with 34 off 24 balls after the Jets opted to bat first.

Although Durham made early inroads, Laurie Evans and Delray Rawlins were outstanding, with the former notching a composed halfcentury to guide Sussex to a convincing victory.

The Jets made a blistering start to their innings with Stokes and Graham Clark at the crease. Stokes led the assault, hitting four boundaries off Jofra Archer’s first over before Chris Jordan showed his experience, sending a slower ball down to dismiss Clark.

But Stokes paid the price for an ambitious reverse sweep off Beer when he missed and was adjudged lbw for 34, and the pressure of the spin duo of Beer and Briggs accounted for Tom Latham and Paul Collingwood cheaply as the visitors began to put a stranglehold on the innings. Some late hitting by Stuart Poynter, who finished with 28, allowed the Jets to push their total up to 140, but that always looked below par, despite an early setback for the Sharks.

The dangerous Phil Salt chipped to Stokes at mid-on in the first over before Mark Wood produced a steep bouncer to remove Luke Wright and leave the visitors 28 for two. Any tension quickly subsided however as the eye-catching Rawlins arrived at the crease and took the attack to the Durham bowlers as he and Evans combined to put on 70 for the third wicket.

David Wiese and Michael Burgess then went cheaply but Evans upped the ante to push the Sharks over the victory line, finishing unbeaten on 63 in the penultimate over to book a finals spot for Jason Gillespie’s side.

Meanwhile, Moeen Ali is hoping his form with Worcestershire – for whom he scored a double century and took eight for 89 against Yorkshire this week – has put him in contention for an England recall for the Fourth Test with India.

“I’m just trying to do my best, put my name up there again and see what happens. If I get the call, then great, but if not I hope the guys that are playing do really well,” he told Sky Sports.