LONDON, July 17: Australian pace bowler Jason Gillespie took six wickets as Yorkshire clinched their first English County Championship win of the season on Sunday.

Gillespie finished with figures of six for 37 as Durham were bowled out for 248 in their second innings against Yorkshire at The Riverside.

Durham captain Dale Benkenstein (96) had given the home side hope of saving the game but, when he fell to Deon Kruis, the home side collapsed from 205 for five and handed the visitors a 145-run victory.

Sussex missed out on the chance to open up a 15-point lead over Lancashire at the top of division one after failing to force a win against Kent at Hove.

Matthew Walker defied the home side for more than four hours with his 70 not out adding to a first-innings 87.

Sussex's lead is just five points thanks to the efforts of left-hander Walker, who faced 220 balls in his side's innings of 280 for seven, and Tyron Henderson, whose rearguard 31 not out ensured a draw.

The visitors had been set a total of 457 to win.

In the second division, Essex secured a seven-wicket win over promotion rivals Gloucestershire at Bristol with Andy Bichel, Ravi Bopara and Grant Flower claiming three wickets each.

Former Australia star Bichel took three for 50, medium-pacer Bopara took three for 16 and left-arm spinner Flower returned three for 28 as Gloucestershire were dismissed for 251 shortly after tea.

Division leaders Surrey have a win over Northamptonshire in their sights with the home side 356 runs behind with just four wickets in hand.

Mark Ramprakash (155) and Jon Batty (133) both hit centuries to enable the visitors to declare on 424 for six, leaving Northants a target of 453.

Two wickets each for Azhar Mahmood and Mohammad Akram left Northants in trouble at 97 for six.

The home side had conceded a 28-run first-innings lead and had seen the visitors go from 75 for one overnight to 353 for five as Ramprakash and Batty took control.

Scores and results on Sunday:

County Championship:

Division One:

At Chester-le-Street: Yorkshire (20pts) beat Durham (5pts) by 145 runs.

YORKSHIRE 339 (A. McGrath 140 not out, D.S. Lehmann 58) and 312 (C. White 66, A. McGrath 61, J. Sayers 56; O.D. Gibson 4-62); DURHAM 258 (D.M. Benkenstein 93, O.D. Gibson 53; T Bresnan 5-58) and 248 (D.M. Benkenstein 96, G.R. Breese 63, J.N. Gillespie 6-37).

At Trent Bridge: HAMPSHIRE 572-3 declared (J. Adams 262 not out, J.P. Crawley 148, D. Thornely 50 not out) and 173-8 declared (C. Shreck 4-35); NOTTINGHAMSHIRE 362 (M.A. Ealham 101 not out, S.P. Fleming 81, D.J. Bicknell 77, G.P. Swann 54; C.T. Tremlett 4-43) and 24-0.

At Edgbaston: MIDDLESEX 446 (E.C. Joyce 211, D.C. Nash 68, N. Compton 52) and 123-3; WARWICKSHIRE 391 (T. Ambrose 133, M.A. Wagh 111).

At Hove: Sussex (11pts) drew with Kent (10pts).

SUSSEX 399 (M.H. Yardy 134, M.W. Goodwin 82; M.M. Patel 4-101) / 393-6 declared (M.W. Goodwin 122, M.J. Prior 108, R.R. Montgomerie 69, C. Hopkinson 57; M.M. Patel 4-122); KENT 336 (D.I. Stevens 118, M.J. Walker 87; Yasir Arafat 5-84) and 280-7 (M.J. Walker 70 not out).

Division Two:

At Sophia Gardens: LEICESTERSHIRE 560 (H.D. Ackerman 309 not out, P.A. Nixon 60) and 17-0; GLAMORGAN 449 (B.B. McCullum 160, M.J. Powell 127).

At Northampton: SURREY 328 (A.D. Brown 113, M.R. Ramprakash 51; M.J. Nicholson 4-84) and 424-6 declared (M.R. Ramprakash 155, J.N. Batty 133, Azhar Mahmood 52); NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 300 (U. Afzaal 136 not out) and 97-6.

At Taunton: DERBYSHIRE 396 (M.J. North 132, C.G. Taylor 60) and 376-6 (S.D. Stubbings 124, M.J. North 75, C.G. Taylor 74); SOMERSET 340 (P. Trego 135, A. Suppiah 50; P.S. Jones 4-88).

At Bristol: Essex (22pts) beat Gloucestershire (6pts) by seven wickets.

GLOUCESTERSHIRE 394 (A.P.R. Gidman 87, C.M. Spearman 70, S. Adshead 68) and 251 (C.M. Spearman 51); ESSEX 548 (A. Flower 190, J. Middlebrook 73 not out, M. Pettini 59, G.W. Flower 58; S. Kirby 4-94) and 98-3.—AFP