Any lingering hopes Surrey may have had of reaching the last eight of the Twenty20 Cup were extinguished this afternoon by Sussex. As with Friday night’s clash at Chelmsford, everything was going according to plan until the thirteenth over. But then the Brown Caps suddenly found runs hard to come by and, on a flat pitch, from being 119-3, the visitors collected just 45 off their last seven overs.

Needing 165 to win, the Sharks lost Chris Nash and Chris Adams in each of Jade Dernbach’s first two overs. Nash edged behind for a second ball duck and in the third over Gary Wilson, deputising for the rested Jonathan Batty, was on the end of Adams’ skied pull.

But with Murray Goodwin, who hit an unbeaten 79 off 46 balls, and Matt Prior combining to put on 117 in 12 overs for the third wicket - the best stand for any wicket against Surrey in the history of the Twenty20 Cup - Sussex cruised home with 16 balls to spare to keep alive their own hopes of reaching the quarter-finals.

Goodwin signalled his intentions by backing away to Pedro Collins in the second over of the Sharks’ reply and launching the West Indian left-armer over extra cover for six. At the beginning of the next over the former Zimbabwe international collected three fours in as many balls off Dernbach before the 22-year-old claimed the scalp of Adams.

The seventh over saw Goodwin pull Abdul Razzaq into the pavilion for his second maximum. Prior was close to being brilliantly caught on the boundary, by Matthew Spriegel, off the last ball of the same over. But in the next, bowled by the 21-year-old all-rounder, Goodwin went to his half-century in just 25 deliveries.

With ten overs left the home side required 67 for victory, but with sixteen runs coming off the 12th over, bowled by Chris Schofield, Surrey needed a near miracle if they were ever going to defend a target of 45 off eight.

In the next over Prior went to 46 by lifting Chris Jordan straight down the ground for six. Shortly afterwards the former England wicketkeeper brought up his fifty, off 30 balls - and posted the hundred stand in the process - with a four over backward point.

Two overs later Prior became Dernbach’s third victim when he was caught at long-on for 56. Usman Afzaal picked up the wicket of Dwayne Smith, when the ball rolled off his pad and on to the stumps in the 16th over, but with nine needed off the last 26 balls the writing was already on the wall.

Earlier, Alistair Brown helped his side overcome the early loss of Scott Newman by teeing off in style. The 38-year-old bludgeoned 51 in just 21 deliveries before losing his middle stump to Smith in the ninth over.

Brown’s alliance with Mark Ramprakash (33) brought 84 runs in eight overs for the second wicket. But after the stand-in Brown Caps skipper was run out by a direct hit from Robin Martin-Jenkins in the 11th over the visitors lost their way.

Apart from Afzaal, who made a breezy 38 and was going well until he was struck on the hand by a beamer from Smith, the Brown Caps lower order failed to do justice to themselves with the bat.

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