COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION ONE, Riverside:
CLOSE OF PLAY, DAY ONE: Durham 264-2 (Durham 2pt, Sussex 0pts)
31 July - 3 August 2009

Di Venuto has now scored four centuries against his former club

Michael Di Venuto and Will Smith both scored centuries as Durham closed on 264-2 on day one against Sussex.

Di Venuto (141 not out), who scored his second ton of the season, shared a partnership of 231 for the second-wicket with Smith (101).

Durham's captain needed 291 deliveries to reach his first hundred of the season, while Di Venuto got there in 150 balls.

Yasir Arafat (1-70) and Corey Collymore (1-44) took Sussex's only wickets.

Although they were out of luck early on, the Sussex attack carried little threat on a placid pitch and might have taken even more hammer from Di Venuto had he seen his fair share of the strike.

Until bad light intervened with three overs left, he had batted all day - but in the afternoon session he faced 76 balls, compared with 135 for Smith.

The former Nottinghamshire man needed a bit of luck. He was on 90 when Collymore and Arafat took the new ball and he edged both for two of his 12 fours - before being beaten by the Pakistan international on 99.

A comfortable steer to third-man took him to his hundred but Smith faced only two more balls before Collymore shot one through at shin height to hit his off stump.

Smith and Di Venuto moved into third place in the highest second-wicket stands in Durham's first-class history, falling 27 short of the 258 put on by Martin Love and Jon Lewis against Nottinghamshire at Riverside in 2001.

Earlier, Mark Stoneman scored the day's first runs with a lovely drive for four through extra-cover off Arafat but added only one run, before edging the Pakistani to first slip, where Yardy held a low catch.

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