Sussex have suffered a blow to their promotion hopes after a thrashing in the North East.

The county went down by 186 runs at Durham having been bowled out for 135 in the second innings on a dismal afternoon.

They remain alive in the two-from-three battle to go up from Specsavers County Championship division two.

But they really need to beat Warwickshire at Hove in their penultimate fixture next week.

Both Warwickshire and leaders Kent completed wins today. Warwickshire have 207 points, Kent 195 and Sussex 174.

Kent host hapless Glamorgan next week before the top two clash in the final week while Sussex visit Northamptonshire.

Sussex subsided meekly today at the Emirates Riverside.

Durham appeared to be in trouble after their first innings after being bowled out for 103. However, Chris Rushworth dug his team out of trouble with an outstanding spell of 8-51 before a brilliant hundred from Cameron Steel put Durham in command on day two.

Jon Lewis's men set Sussex a daunting chase of 322 in their final innings, and the visitors were never able to threaten as Rushworth dominated with the ball, claiming another four wickets to take his tally to 12 for the match. Axar Patel wrapped up the tail on his final match for Durham, allowing the home side to ease to the victory.

Durham began the day three 201 runs ahead of the visitors, although they lost Patel almost immediately as he played a loose shot against Danny Briggs that landed in the grasp of David Wiese. Steel maintained his form at the crease, notching his highest score at Emirates Riverside on his way to 150.

He produced a stand with Paul Collingwood to edge Durham's lead towards the 300-run mark, although Steel was to fall to Tom Haines for 160, becoming the 19-year-old's maiden first-class wicket. The home side collapsed after lunch losing their final four wickets for four runs to be bowled out for 340, despite a season-best knock from Collingwood of 47.

Sussex lost Phil Salt in the first over of their reply. Rushworth burst through his defences to clean bowl the opener for a duck, while Matt Salisbury notched the scalp of Luke Wells in his first over. Harry Finch came and went leaving a straight delivery from Rushworth, which reduced the visitors to 11-3 and allowed the seamer to claim his 10th wicket of the match.

Haines and Michael Burgess battled at the crease without looking comfortable amid tight bowling from the Durham attack. However, Rushworth's persistence paid off as he bowled Burgess for 22 before trapping Haines lbw for 40. The home side seized the initiative to close in on the victory as Patel removed Ben Brown, while Salisbury claimed his second wicket of the innings tearing one through the gate of David Wiese.

Jofra Archer endured a miserable time at the crease. He was bowled for a golden duck in the first innings, while his second attempt proved to be just as unsuccessful as he was run out by Michael Richardson after surviving an lbw shout. Patel pinned Chris Jordan lbw before Ollie Robinson clipped the left-arm spinner straight to Steel to allow the home side to secure the win by a comfortable margin.