Rain washes out the first leg of the finals

One of the perils of trying to play cricket as autumn looms was highlighted when the first legs of the final and the third-place play-off matches in the inaugural Twenty20 Floodlit Cup fell victim to the weather.

Essex reached 158 for 4 against Derbyshire in front of 3500 spectators at Chelmsford in the 14th over of a match already reduced to 15-overs-a-side when a torrential downpour ended proceedings. The game had already been interrupted by rain for 40 minutes when Essex had made 22 for 0. Mark Pettini (72 off 32 balls) led the charge either side of the break as he and Ronnie Irani (37) put on 78 for the first wicket. When Irani departed, bowled by Ant Botha, Pettini really opened up, but his explosive innings ended when he was stumped off Jake Needham. Botha came back to pick up two more wickets in an over as Andy Flower (10) and Andy Bichel (1) fell cheaply. James Foster and Andre Adams added 30 off 12 balls before the heavens opened.

At Hove, Sussex and Glamorgan did not even manage to take to the field, and although Sussex won the toss, there was never any realistic chance of play starting as heavy storms lashed the south coast.

Derbyshire now host Essex in the second leg of the final on Friday while Sussex travel to Glamorgan to decide third place on the same night at Cardiff. With both ties being reduced to one-off games the potential for either being decided by a period of extra-time - consisting of four overs-per-side - if each team won one game is now out of the equation.