Sussex are the kings of one-day cricket again.

The county pulled off a fantastic triumph at Lord's yesterday when they beat Lancashire by 15 runs in one of the best one-day finals for years.

Sussex seemed to be up against it after they were put in by Mark Chilton and bowled out for 172 in 47.1 overs. But inspired by James Kirtley, who took 5-27, they dismissed Lancashire for 157 in 47.2 overs.

There were heroes all over the field for Sussex but Kirtley, whose place in the side was by no means certain a week ago, was a deserved man of the match.

Kirtley knocked the top off Lancashire's top order by removing Mal Loye, Nathan Astle and Stuart Law in successive overs.

And just when Dominic Cork appeared to be guiding Lancashire home, Kirtley returned to the attack to take two wickets at the end, sparking unbelievable scenes of joy both in the middle and in the stands.

Those celebrations would have continued long into the night and Sussex deserve every plaudit for the way they stuck to their task after a disastrous start when they slumped to 78-6 from 20 overs after being asked to bat in bowler-friendly conditions.

If they were to have any chance of defending such a modest total they needed early wickets and Kirtley stepped up with three in seven balls.

The drama began in the fifth over. Mal Loye had just slog-swept Kirtley for six over square leg but after delivering a wide with his next delivery Kirtley hit back.

Loye mis-judged the length and was leg before to a ball which would have clipped the top of off.

Kirtley then struck with successive deliveries in his next over to remove Lancashire's premier batsmen.

Astle played outside his front pad to a ball which straightened up and Kirtley then got the wicket Sussex coveted more than any other when umpire Jeremy Lloyds upheld his leg before appeal even though replays confirmed Law had got bat on ball first.

Suddenly Sussex looked like they were starting to relish the occasion although the odds still favoured Lancashire as skipper Mark Chilton and Luke Sutton kept out Kirtley and Yasir Arafat without too many alarms for the next ten overs.

Then, having taken the score to 51, Sutton lobbed up a catch to mid-wicket, giving Luke Wright a wicket in his first over.

Wright bowled just one more over before he was replaced by Mushtaq Ahmed and the leg spinner was soon tightening the noose.

He broke through in his second over when Chilton tried to swat away a leg-side wide and was stumped by a yard.

That was 67-5 and Sussex were dreaming the impossible in the next over.

Mushtaq's wrong un deceived Glen Chapple and Richard Montgomerie snapped up a bat-pad catch at silly point at the second attempt.

With Robin Martin-Jenkins bowling with his usual economy, the runs had almost dried up and at that stage with Lancashire 72-6 halfway through their 50 overs, Sussex were favourites.

But, like Sussex, Lancashire were revived in mid-innings as Kyle Hogg and Dominic Cork began to restore some self-belief.

Cork only just got his back leg down to avoid being stumped off Mushtaq and then had another reprieve when he scrambled through for a single just before Wright could run him out in his follow through.

The seventh wicket pair put on 58 in 17 overs and when the last ten overs began Lancashire needed a gettable 56 to win.

Sussex needed a wicket and thought they had got it when Hogg mis-timed a pull but Montgomerie failed to cling on at mid on.

Despair turned to joy three balls later when Hogg attempted a similar shot and this time Montgomerie held on to a much easier opportunity. Game on again.

Cork and Smith put on 21 but Kirtley returned with devestating effect at the pavilion end. Smith was leg before to the last ball of the 46th over, Arafat bowled Mahmood when the England man had a horrible slog across the line and it was all over when Murali Kartik was plum in front first ball.

Earlier, you could hear the groans from the thousands of Sussex supporters when they discovered that Adams had lost the toss and their worst fears were soon confirmed.

Cork swung a couple of deliveries in the opening over lavishly while his new-ball partner Hogg troubled Sussex's openers when he got a couple of balls to hold their line down the Lord's slope.

Their troubles began in the third over. Prior smashed Cork backward of point where Tom Smith pulled off a superb diving stop with Montgomerie already well down the pitch looking for a single. By the time he had been sent back Smith had returned the ball to Cork and despite a full length dive Montgomerie was a yard short.

Prior got the Sussex fans roaring when he cracked the first boundary past point in the fifth over and two more fours followed.

But it was Lancashire's supporters who were cheering again in the eighth over. Prior mis-cued a pull off Hogg and Mahmood, running to his right from mid on, made a difficult catch look easy.

Sussex needed to regroup with their best two batsmen at the crease but even Adams and Goodwin proved falible to the pressure Lancashire were exerting through a combination of tight bowling and tigerish fielding.

Adams could have been run out twice in the 11th over only to be let off the hook on both occasions by Cork.

But it was all over for the skipper when Mahmood replaced Cork in the 13th over, got his second ball to lift off a length and a thick edge flew to second slip.

At 38-3 after 48 minutes Sussex were in big trouble but things only got worse.

Goodwin, who never settled, could not resist a widish delivery in Chapple's second over and was caught behind.

And in the next over Sussex suffered another calamitous run out when Hopkinson pushed for a suicidal single to mid off and was well short of his ground when Cork hit the stumps with a direct hit before embarking on a typically ebullient celebration.

Sussex were 52-5 and already their supporters were leaving their seats to seek solace with a beer or two.

The county desperately needed to regroup and at least in Yardy they had someone who would not surrender his wicket cheaply.

First he added 26 in nine overs with Robin Martin-Jenkins for the sixth wicket. Martin-Jenkins drove Chapple through mid on for the first boundary in eight overs and the pair were beginning to warm to their task when Martin-Jenkins was caught behind off Chapple.

The ball certainly clipped his pad but not even replays could detect any contact with the bat. At 78-6, Lancashire had Sussex pretty much where they wanted them.

Arafat was determined not to be tied down, however, and typically went for his shots straight away, taking a couple of boundaries off Chapple before driving left-arm spinner Kartik over cover to bring up Sussex's 100.

Lancashire captain Mark Chilton's response was to recall first Cork, without success, and then Mahmood who did the trick in his second over back after the seventh wicket pair had put on 56 in 73 balls.

Once again the England man found some extra bounce and Arafat, trying to steer him over the gully, got a thin edge. He had contributed 32 off 38 balls and at least ensured Sussex would have some sort of total to defend.

In the context of what was happening around him Yardy played superbly. His only boundary had flown between first and second slips early on but he had held the innings together.

It was now his job to push the scoring rate up but in the 43rd over he made a fatal misjudgement, playing for turn from Kartik that was not there to fall lbw to the Indian spinner. He batted for just over two hours and faced 97 balls for his 37.

Wright and Mushtaq Ahmed perished in successive overs looking to push things along and there were 23 balls unused when Mahmood knocked back Mushtaq's off stump to end the innings.

It looked like being a day to forget but Kirtley and his team-mates turned it into one of the greatest in Sussex long history.