Shivnarine Chanderpaul, the International Cricket Council's world player of the year, scored an unbeaten 130 as Durham kept up their pursuit of the English First Division County Championship title.
Left-hander Chanderpaul, a mainstay of the West Indies batting order and Gareth Breese (63 not out) shared an unbroken stand of 192 as Durham made 325 for four against reigning champions Sussex at the Riverside on Wednesday.
Nottinghamshire too stayed firmly in the hunt for the Championship away to Surrey, whose long expected relegation to the Second Division was confirmed Wednesday by the distribution of bonus points in other fixtures.
Nottinghamshire piled up 420 for five, thanks to hundreds from Mark Wagh (141) and Samit Patel (135), a lead of 153.
Surrey, who won the Champion-ship three times around the turn of the century, have yet to register a victory in the competition this season.
Somerset, one of several teams who could lift the trophy with only just one more round of fixtures remaining after the current set of matches, fell 20 runs short of maximum batting bonus points while making 380 against Yorkshire.
In reply, the hosts again saw Michael Vaughan fail with the bat, the former England captain out for 14.
A rain-marred season means the top five teams in the First Division all still have a chance of topping the table. That includes Kent, chasing their first Championship trophy in 30 years.
Lancashire, bowled out for 107 in their first innings, were 257 for seven at stumps on Thursday, the second day of four, against Kent at Liverpool.
That left them just 131 runs ahead of their southern visitors, who made 233 in their first innings with former England wicket-keeper Geraint Jones contributing 91.
Hampshire, whose August saw them go top in their first season since the first-class retirement of their former captain and Australia leg-spin great Shane Warne, are not involved in the current set of matches.
Their bid for a first Champion-ship title since 1973 concludes away to Nottinghamshire next week in what could be a winner-takes-all clash.