County round-up: Sussex are blown away by Hampshire boys Vince and Briggs

Given quite how badly their Championship season has gone so far, there are two ways to look at Hampshire's superlative form in the Friends' Life Twenty20. Either they are just peculiarly suited to the shortest form of the game, or they've been letting themselves down very, very badly in four-day cricket.

Only they really know – and, it must be said, recent imports Imran Tahir and Shahid Afridi have made a difference – but a position of ninth out of nine in the Championship First Division does look a bit strange in the context of their romp to the top of the T20 South Division. With one game to go, they cannot be headed, with 22 points to 19 for Somerset (who have played all their matches) and 18 for Sussex.

It was the latter on the receiving end for the second time in recent weeks yesterday. Sussex were bowled out for 81 at Hove after Hampshire had smashed 193 for 2 in their 20 overs. It doesn't get much more one-sided than that.

The heroes were two Hampshire youngsters, the batsman James Vince – who struck an unbeaten 85 from just 49 balls – and slow left-armer Danny Briggs, the county's top wicket-taker in last season's victorious campaign, who took 4 for 17 to clean up Sussex's middle order. Dimitri Mascarenhas, another man whose absense has not helped in the four-day stuff, took 3 for 20.

Hampshire's comfortable progression is at odds with the dogfight behind them in the South Group. There are five teams battling it out for the final three places, with a handful of games to go.

Things are not much more clear cut in the North Group, although two teams – Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire – have secured home quarter-finals, even if the former suffered a rare defeat, to Lancashire, yesterday. Durham's hopes of joining them took a knock, meanwhile, as they were beaten by three wickets at Scarborough. Dewsbury-born Rich Pyrah took 5 for 16.