DURHAM closed in on their second victory in two games when they reached 211 for four at lunch, needing a further 51 against table-toppers Sussex at Chester-le-Street.

Scott Borthwick, playing like a seasoned pro, progressed from his overnight 26 to 75 not out, and received staunch support from Calum MacLeod after Michael Richardson lost his leg stump to Ajmal Shahzad in the fourth over.

Shahzad has taken all four wickets to go with his four in the first innings and now has 22 from three games.

The contest was still in the balance when MacLeod went in and the Scot, originally signed as a T20 specialist last year, took 25 balls to get off the mark.

He succeeded in seeing off the dangerous Shahzad and opened his account by driving Matt Hobden to the cover boundary.

Although Oliver Robinson beat Borthwick three times in one over, the left-hander responded by hitting him for three fours in his next.

MacLeod, on seven, edged Hobden past Ed Joyce's left ear at first slip and went on to make 26 before attempting an upper cut, which flew straight to third man. Paul Collingwood joined Borthwick for the final ten minutes before lunch.