Adams ton takes Sharks past tough target struck by Lightning

Chris Adams was the hero in a tight finish at Hove, where Sussex beat Lancashire with just two balls to spare.

After being put into bat, the Lightning had racked up an impressive 277 for 4 in their innings. The home side then slipped to 5 for 2 as the openers Matt Prior and Richard Montgomerie fell cheaply.

However, a quickfire 61 from Oliver Rayner aided Adams' charge to 132 as the Sharks edged to victory with two wickets in hand during the final over, despite the best efforts of Steve Croft, who took 4 for 59.

Darren Gough took centre stage with bat and ball as Essex cruised to a nine-wicket victory over Middlesex in their Pro40 League First Division match at Southend. The former England paceman claimed three for 16 in as the Crusaders were bowled out for just 144. Essex bowler Andy Bichel also picked up three wickets, for 19.

Then Gough, appearing at No 3 following the departure of captain Ronnie Irani (6), struck 10 fours on his way to an unbeaten 53 from just 49 deliveries, with opener Mark Pettini finishing 60 not out and hitting 10 boundaries, including one six, as the Eagles soon chalked up 148 for the win from just 18.3 overs.

At Colwyn Bay, Glamorgan saw their hopes of victory against Warwickshire dashed by rain. The hosts had reduced the Bears to 120 for 6 in 29 overs before the bad weather intervened.

Even though the rain stopped at one stage, with the Dragons facing a target of 136 from 29 overs under the Duckworth-Lewis method, the players never got back on to the pitch and the match was abandoned just after 6pm.

At the County Ground, Durham recorded a first win as they beat Northamptonshire by four wickets.