Sussex slump to Essex defeat in final One-Day Cup outing

Despite losing by five wickets, Sussex knew things could have been much worse after slipping to 50-6 just 16.3 overs after deciding to bat first. John Simpson’s 69 runs from 80 balls, a List A-best 48 from Bertie Foreman and a run-a-ball 43 from Henry Crocombe got the Sharks to a half-competitive total of 226-9, at least prolonging the contest.

Essex then laboured to their target in 45.2 overs in an ending that typified how the competition had gone for both sides.

There were glimmers of promise, but some careless errors dominated the tale and showed why neither would make it out of Group B after a long month of cricket.

At the end of a bruising but enlightening competition for both sides, their final line-ups gave a chance for fringe players to impress.

Sussex were without Ollie Robinson and Tom Alsop, while Fynn Hudson-Prentice continued to be rested ahead of the return to County Championship action, so Charlie Tear, Bertie Foreman and Jack Campbell all came back into the side.

Essex, meanwhile, sought to build on some positive recent performances in the absence of their stars in The Hundred, and even left Netherlands bowler Shane Snater out of their XI in favour of Aaron Beard.

Accompanying this team news was a strange decision for Sussex – having won the toss – to bat first.

After a solid first six overs under grey skies, with Tom Clark and Tom Haines striking their way to 24-0, a horrendous collapse dominated the innings.

Clark (10) departed first, meeting a Ben Allison delivery late and chipping a catch to Nick Browne, while Haines (10) followed with a square drive that zipped to Feroze Khushi for an excellent low catch.

Tear then fell LBW to Jamie Porter for a golden duck, while Oli Carter (1 off 2) followed when two of his stumps abandoned the ground, already giving Porter his third wicket.

Essex’s strike bowler was not done there, either. Zach Lion-Cachet (7 off 18) was Porter’s next victim, carelessly swiping a shot to Robin Das to leave the score at 39-5.

18-year-old Henry Rogers, who has endured a tough schooling this season, then finished with an eight-ball duck when he was clean bowled by Jamal Richards, taking his average in the competition to 15 from six appearances, and the score to 50-6.

From such a poor start, it seemed Sussex would struggle to make three figures. Fortunately, Essex’s captain and part-time spinner Tom Westley brought himself on next, allowing John Simpson and Archie Lenham to find their timing where others had failed.

After Lenham (a battling 9 off 29) was pinned LBW by Westley, Bertie Foreman was next to the crease after 25.4 overs.

With the second half of the innings beginning, there was a great chance to knuckle down and score runs, and this Simpson and Foreman did by seeing off Porter in the 34th over. They reached their 50 partnership when Foreman went down the ground to strike a typically well-timed boundary, and Sussex were almost back in the contest.

After all the hard work of his invaluable 69 runs, Simpson finally got out in the 37th over, caught by Luc Benkenstein after taking the wrong option from a regulation Noah Thain delivery. Despite Sussex being in danger of being all out for 150, the hosts then enjoyed their best spell of the game.

Henry Crocombe joined Foreman and the Sussex-born talents played fearlessly, with the former playing some booming shots to make an unbeaten 43, while the latter increased his scoring rate to make 48.

That final blast saw the pair combine for 66 runs in 69 balls, while Crocombe and Jack Campbell (5 off 4) added another 18 in the final 10 balls to ensure Sussex completed their 50 overs.

Essex looked immediately to young opening pair Benkenstein and Das to impress. Das, who struck an unbeaten 100 in his previous outing at Nottinghamshire, was the first victim in Hove, however, falling for 10 from 20 balls as he feathered through to Simpson.

Against economical bowling from Lenham and Clark, Benkenstein initially knuckled down with Westley, although that story changed dramatically in the 20th over.

With Foreman joining Lenham in the attack, the batsmen decided to go big.

Benkenstein struck 17 of the 23 runs that came off the 21st over from Lenham, but just two deliveries later suffered an embarrassing run out from Haines’ fast arm.

The 19-year-old batsman (49 off 57 balls) was deprived of his half-century, while Westley – who was truly motoring – sold himself short of a hundred when he was run out by a Lion-Cachet direct hit when on 77 from 68 balls.

Foreman, who bowled excellently, then beat the defences of Thain to send the 19-year-old packing for 24, while Lenham spun his web to have Khushi (16 off 33) chop onto his stumps.

Lenham and Foreman could easily have had better figures than 1-44 and 1-45 respectively, with their performances a silver lining for Sussex.

Once the pair had bowled their allocation, though, it was a procession for Essex as they chased down their target in 45.2 overs, with Nick Browne (25 off 48) and Allison (16 off 18) seeing them over the line.

Sussex will lick their wounds ahead of their biggest match of the season next week when they travel to Scarborough to face Yorkshire in the County Championship Division Two. That clash starts on Thursday 22 August and could have a huge impact on who gets promoted this season, so there will be plenty of work between now and then.