Sussex's big guns, Chris Adams and Michael Bevan, fired their side to a thrilling last ball National League win under the Hove floodlights last night.

Adams made 68 and Bevan, in his first match for three weeks, applied the finishing touches to perfection, hitting the last ball from Steffan Jones for a single as Somerset skipper Jamie Cox missed with his run out attempt at short mid-wicket.

Bevan finished on 85 not out from 82 balls with five fours, raising his competition aggregate to 505 and his average to an impressive 126.25 in the process.

More importantly, he helped secure one of the two wins his side need if they are to avoid relegation after just one season in the first division.

Sussex had needed seven off the last over and the sight of Bevan and Will House at the crease must have revived uncomfortable memories for the 3,500 crowd after the pair's failure to score five from six balls to beat Kent earlier in the season.

Jones conceded singles off his first four balls, Bevan survived a direct hit by Paul Jarvis to collect two off the fifth before making the winning hit and acknowledging the cheers of a vociferous 3,500 crowd with a flourish of his bat.

A slow pitch and accurate Somerset attack yielded runs grudgingly, but Adams and Bevan laid foundations for a six wicket win which took their side out of the relegation zone in a stand of 110 in 23 overs which ensured the asking rate never rose much above a run a ball in the crucial final overs.

Adams had clearly set his sights on batting through the innings, but he skied a pull attempting to hit Marcus Trescothick over mid-wicket with four overs remaining after underpinning the reply with 68 off 118 balls with five fours.

The equation was down to ten from ten when Bas Zuiderent was run out by Keith Parsons' direct hit from mid off, but while Bevan was there Sussex always looked as if they had things under control.

Earlier Cox top-scored with 49, but Somerset will have been disappointed with a total of 212-8 after they won the toss.

Cox and Michael Burns seemed to have built a platform for a more substantial score when they put on 46 in ten overs to take their side to 130-3 with 16 overs remaining.

But Cox, who had stroked five boundaries in his 69-ball innings, was deceived by Will House's change of pace and his departure prompted a gentle decline in Somerset's fortunes.

Umer Rashid, who had earlier snared Peter Bowler in his first over, bowled Burns on the drive and Somerset lost further momentum in the next over when Ian Blackwell mis-timed a pull off James Kirtley.

The Sabres scored a modest 42 runs between the 30th and 40th overs, but some bold strokeplay and good running between the wickets by Keith Parsons (27) and Rob Turner, who made an unbeaten 34, hoisted the total over 200 while demonstrating once again the depth of Somerset's batting.

Sussex produced another disciplined one-day bowling performance with Rashid the pick. Varying his flight intelligently despite a stiff breeze, he finished with 2-35.

Full of confidence after his maiden century last week, he then batted breezily coming in at No3, hitting Graham Rose over mid-wicket for six on his way to 32 from balls before he played across a straight one from Rose.

l SEE tomorrow's Argus for our usual service of reports, results, tables and pictures from the county's league cricket circuit