Sussex 186 for 5 (Wright 74*) lead Durham 164 (Anyon 5-44, Jordan 4-50) by 22 runs
Scorecard
James Anyon claimed only the sixth five-wicket haul of his career and Luke Wright hit an unbeaten 74 as Sussex gained the upper hand on the first day of their match against champions Durham at Hove.
Anyon took 5 for 44, including four wickets for 19 in his second spell, as Durham were dismissed for 164 in 52 overs after winning the toss, with their last seven wickets falling for 56. Sussex were reduced to 90 for 5 at one stage before Wright led a counter-attack to take them to 186 for 5 at stumps, a lead of 22.
A win for Sussex should secure third place and they are also chasing their first Championship win at Hove since last August so they had plenty of incentive to avenge the heavy defeat they suffered to Durham three weeks ago.
A pitch offering good bounce and seam movement gave them further encouragement but Durham were in a decent position at 107 for 3 shortly after lunch when Jordan triggered a collapse by claiming wickets in successive overs.
Having been named in the Performance Squad on Monday a week after making his England one-day debut, Jordan bowled with sustained hostility to have top scorer Scott Borthwick caught at third slip fending off a bouncer after he had reached 1,000 Championship runs for the season.
Matt Prior then dived full-length after parrying the ball at slip to remove Will Smith, who is making his last appearance for the county. The third wicket of his spell came when Ben Stokes slashed to point shortly after the ball had been changed. Jordan had earlier claimed opener Keaton Jennings on his way to figures of 4 for 50 which took him to 56 Championship wickets for the season.
Anyon had Mark Stoneman, who also passed 1,000 Championship runs, caught behind in his second over but he was more productive after lunch when he reaped the rewards for bowling a fuller length.
At one stage he took three wickets in six balls with Phil Mustard edging an off-cutter to slip, Michael Richardson lbw playing across a straight one and Usman Arshad losing his off stump before Anyon claimed his fifth victim when skipper Paul Collingwood holed out to deep midwicket.
Durham were the last side to win a Championship game at Hove when batting first more than two years ago and the country's leading wicket-taker, Graham Onions, improved their chances of repeating that by picking up two wickets in his first two overs. Chris Nash was lbw to the third ball of the innings with one that kept a shade low and Michael Yardy played down the wrong line.
Skipper Ed Joyce batted purposefully, dominating a third-wicket stand of 58 with Luke Wells to which his partner contributed just a single. But when Arshad replaced Onions he induced Joyce to play on and then picked up Prior's prime scalp when he edged behind. Wells' vigil ended when he got a thin edge to Stokes' outswinger to leave Sussex 90 for 5.
But Wright and Ben Brown responded impressively. Onions conceded 33 runs in his second spell of just three overs with Wright hitting him over midwicket for six on his way to a 38-ball half-century. He was badly dropped at deep extra cover on 57 by Stoneman and closed unbeaten on 74 from 60 balls with 13 fours.
