Sussex leave Surrey in a spin

Chris Nash supplied the early impetus to the Sussex innings with a blistering 40 off just 16 deliveries

Buy this photo

Sussex used spin to silence a Tuesday night crowd of 8,000 at the Brit Oval by claiming a 21-run win over Surrey to open their Twenty20 Cup account.

The Sharks successfully defended a total of 184 for nine to bounce back from their drubbing by Hampshire 24 hours earlier.

Surrey appeared dazzled by the pursuit ahead as, batting under the new £2.5million retractable floodlights for the first time, they allowed Luke Wright and Yasir Arafat to open with maidens.

They took until the eighth over to hit their first boundary, by which time skipper Usman Afzaal had sliced a drive to third man.

Scott Newman, who made 38, and Mark Ramprakash increased the tempo by taking 21 off a Robin Martin-Jenkins over, but the Brown Caps slipped off the pace in losing three wickets for 10 runs after Sussex turned to spin at both ends.

Left-arm spinner Michael Yardy bowled Ramprakash as he made room to cut and then had Newman caught at midwicket, while leg-spinner Will Beer bowled James Benning with a googly.

Again Surrey rallied with 34 in 20 balls from Stewart Walters, but he perished when trying to smear a good-length ball from Dwayne Smith through cover, while Yardy accounted for Matthew Spriege to finish with 3-21.

Yardy was on hand again in the closing overs to catch Chris Schofield and Grant Elliott at extra cover off miscued drives, and Surrey's victory hopes were over long before they were left with 30 to make of the final over.

Sussex made a flying start to the game with a cameo 40 from only 16 balls by Chris Nash.

Omitted from the Sharks’ one-day side for most of their Friends Provident Trophy campaign, Nash batted like a man with a point to prove by clattering five fours and two sixes in an opening stand of 53 in five overs with Ed Joyce.

Nash was caught in the deep when on six by Walters, but the fielder's momentum took him over the ropes to give Nash the first of his sixes.

His second came off the next ball from Andre Nel, which disappeared into the seating over long-on.

Joyce fell when he lofted Grant Elliott's first ball to long-on, and Nash went soon after, playing on to Pedro Collins.

Luke Wright top-scored with 58 – his fifty occupied just 39 balls – and was responsile for the shot of the evening, a driven six over cover off Schofield.

The ex-Lancashire leg-spinner exacted his revenge next ball up by fooling Wright in the flight to peg back his middle stump, the first of five wickets to fall for 45 in the quest for late runs. They already had enough.