Sussex dimmed despite Mushtaq's efforts

Northants 148 for 9 (Mushtaq 5-25) beat Sussex 110 (Crook 4-20) by 33 runs (D/L)
Scorecard

Lance Klusener top edges Luke Wright for four © Getty Images

Northamptonshire's title hunt was kept alive and Sussex's dented after the home side eased to a 33-run victory in a rain-affected pro40 match at Northampton.

Sussex appeared well on course when they skittled Northants for 148, Mushtaq Ahmed doing to damage with 5 for 25 in his eight overs. At one stage, Northants were 65 for 1 as Usman Afzaal (37) and Chris Rogers (33) got them off to a decent start, but that became 119 for 9 before some late hitting from Matthew Nicholson and Monty Panesar.

That stand proved crucial as Steve Crook, who finished with 4 for 20, triggered an even more dramatic collapse, Sussex crashing from 42 for 1 to 65 for 6, eventually losing their last nine wickets for 68.

Sussex could rightly claim that they were not helped by faulty floodlights at Wantage Road which led to the start of their innings being delayed because three of the four retractable pylons could not be raised. They also had the worse of the conditions as the pitch had sweated while covered during afternoon downpours.

Sussex remain in second place, one point behind leaders Essex, while Northants move into fourth but could join Sussex in second place if they win their game in hand.