Adams makes sure Sussex salvage pride

Kent 114 Sussex 115-5 Sussex win by five wickets

Sussex claimed second place in the Southern Division of the Twenty20 Cup with a convincing victory over Kent, but still missed out on a place in next month's semi-finals.

Not that a capacity crowd of 4,200 seemed to mind. It is to be hoped that it was Kent supporters who were locked out when the gates were finally closed not long after the start of this floodlit match, that at least would have been merciful.

Chris Adams, the Sussex captain, and Bas Zuiderent smashed 80 runs off nine overs to ensure the win with more than four overs to spare. Both perished before the end, Dutchman Zuiderent run out for 42, his highest score in the tournament, and Adams when eight more runs were needed for a typically belligerent 34, but Sussex were home and dry.

The Kent bowling figures were admirably parsimonious, but lacked the wickets to go with them. But at least the action pleased the crowd, and as far as these two teams are concerned the tournament is scheduled to run and run.

Long before the halfway point there was no longer anything left for either team to play for other than pride, the matter of best runner-up in the three regional groups having been settled elsewhere, but both sides stuck at it and gave it what they could, which, in the case of the Kent batsmen, was not all that much.

After putting up such a brave show against Surrey the previous evening, they wilted in the face of some tight, disciplined bowling. Jason Lewry snuffed out the threat of Andrew Symonds and then all Kentish resistance folded. Perhaps it was the lights, perhaps the intimacy of the ground with the crowd pressing close to the boundary, whatever, all the big-hitters were strangely subdued.

Mark Ealham top-scored with 22, with Matthew Walker and captain David Fulton next best on 15 apiece and the aforementioned Symonds 14 runs off 10 balls. It was not enough.

Lewry finished with 3 for 34, but pick of the Sussex attack were leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed, who proved unreadable as figures of 2 for 12 attest to, and Robin Martin-Jenkins with 2 for 21.