Super-over heartbreak for Sussex

Cornelius de Villiers bowled Rory Hamilton-Brown with the second ball of Sussex's super over, having first cleaned up Dwayne Smith, to put the Diamond Eagles through in Delhi

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The Diamond Eagles progressed to the next stage of the Champions League Twenty20 at the expense of Sussex thanks to a super-over victory after the scores were tied in Delhi.

Batting first, England's Twenty20 Cup winners managed only 119 for seven in 20 overs, Joe Gatting top-scoring with 25 and Ed Joyce contributing 21.

Opener Rilee Rossouw then hit 65 off 62 balls as the Eagles appeared set to reach their target comfortably.

But Sussex spinners Piyush Chawla and Rory Hamilton-Brown pulled things back, and the South Africans needed Ryan McLaren’s four off Yasir Arafat’s final ball to tie scores at 119 for four.

A super over, in which the teams were permitted only three batsmen plus one bowler and the 'innings' ended if a side lost two wickets, was applied.

The Eagles managed nine off Arafat but Sussex lost two wickets from Cornelius de Villiers’ first two deliveries.

Luke Wright had given Sussex some momentum with the bat at the start of the match after the Sharks won the toss.

Having clubbed de Villiers for a six and four, however, he lost his off stump attempting another big hit to leg.

Chris Nash followed his opening partner back, the first of Dillon du Preez's two victims - and de Villiers pulled off a spectacular caught and bowled to remove Hamilton-Brown.

Joyce and captain Michael Yardy - back after missing his team's first match against New South Wales Blues because of an illness - briefly held the innings together.

Ryan McLaren struck two of the last three balls of the game for four to tie the scores and take the match into a super over

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But it was the stand between Joyce and Gatting which carried Sussex past the 100-run mark. Gatting, by far the most fluent of Sussex's batsmen, dominated a 29-run stand for the sixth wicket.

Rossouw's response on a low and slow surface contained some powerful hitting down the ground, as the Eagles' chase began well.

He smacked five boundaries and two towering sixes inside the first six overs and brought up his half-century in 39 balls.

The left-hander's opening partner, Adrian McLaren, contributed just 16 to an opening stand worth 72.

Rossouw was dropped on 26 by James Kirtley at short fine-leg and wicketkeeper Andy Hodd missed a chance offered by Adrian McLaren on 10.

Chawla, who eventually accounted for McLaren, also saw an opportunity to run out Rossouw at the non-striker's end go begging just after the batsman had reached his fifty.

The Eagles were on course, but Chawla applied the brakes with his leg-breaks. Off-spinner Hamilton-Brown then bowled Boeta Dippenaar and had Rossouw caught behind in a superb penultimate over.

The Eagles needed 12 off the last, and Pakistan seamer Arafat conceded three singles first up.

But Ryan McLaren managed an inside-edged boundary off the fourth ball and then struck another four over midwicket to tie the scores.

Arafat’s super over began tightly but Rossouw hit a crucial six over long-on before being run out from the last ball.

De Villiers cleaned up Smith and Hamilton-Brown with a minimum of fuss to confirm Sussex's early return home.