Flower power proved too much for Sussex at Chelmsford yesterday as their unbeaten run, which stretched back to May 1, came to a sorry end.

The Sharks could have gone top of the south division had they won. Instead they were dismissed for 108 - their second lowest total in Twenty20 history - and a 5,500 crowd were able to celebrate Essex's second win in three days. It was sweet revenge for the nine-wicket hammering they suffered under the Hove floodlights on Wednesday.

Andy Flower's 59 proved invaluable and helped Essex to a competitive 151-5 on a slow pitch as they plundered 52 from their last five overs.

Skipper Chris Adams seemed to be pacing Sussex's reply to perfection until he became the first of three victims in the 13th over for Andy's younger brother Grant, whose loopy slow left-arm seemed to mesmerise the Sussex batsmen.

Adams was caught off the glove - although he seemed to indicate the ball had deflected off his wrist - and Johan van der Wath perished two balls later as he aimed to clear the long off boundary.

When Luke Wright chipped up a return catch off the next delivery there was no way back for Sussex at 84-7.

Mark Davis hit a couple of defiant sixes but when James Kirtley fell leg before to Andre Adams in the 19th over Sussex had lost their last seven wickets for 35 runs in 40 deliveries and there were still 11 balls remaining.

Perhaps Sussex should have known what sort of day it was going to be when Sid The Shark fell a couple of strides into the pre-match mascots' 50 yard dash. Like the side he supports, Sid failed to complete the course.

In the first two years three points from three games would have ended their hopes of reaching the knockout stages. But Sussex can still make a first ever appearance in the quarter-finals.

Three of their remaining five games are at Hove and home matches against Surrey and Hampshire at headquarters this week give them the opportunity to get back on track.

There was not a lot wrong with their bowling yesterday until Ryan ten Doeschate chanced his arm at the end of the innings and gave Essex a workable total.

Sussex were on top early on when van der Wath worked up a considerable head of steam to remove Ronnie Irani and Ravinder Bopara in successive overs with the new ball.

James Middlebrook drove Wright's first delivery straight to cover in the seventh over and Essex must have feared the worst when Mushtaq Ahmed, who took 5-11 against them last week, had Mark Pettini caught off a top-edge in his first over.

But neither Mushtaq nor Davis were able to impose the same sort of stranglehold they had had on Wednesday even though a used pitch was taking turn. Flower improvised impressively, one of his eight boundaries coming off an outrageous reservse flip over backward point off Davis after he had stepped a foot outside his off stump to make room.

The Zimbabwean made 59 off 48 balls with eight fours before losing his off stump to James Kirtley after adding 62 in seven overs with ten Doeschate for the fifth wicket.

The Dutchman went on to make 42 off 30 balls at the end including two sixes, one of which bounced off the roof of the flats 120 yards away beyond the mid-wicket boundary.

Sussex would still have fancied their chances but the tone of their reply was set after just three balls when Matt Prior had a horrible hoick across the line at Adams and lost his off stump. Twenty20 demands that batsmen get a move on, but there is still time to have a look at the bowling.

The Sharks' much-vaunted opening pair were both back in the pavilion in the second over when Ian Ward got a thin edge off Tony Palladino.

Adams and Murray Goodwin added 29 without too much trouble before another misjudgement, this time by Goodwin, proved costly when he was bowled in Bopara's first over trying to cut a ball which was too close to him.

It was only when Adams and Tim Ambrose were putting on 37 in five overs with few alarms for the fourth wicket that Sussex looked favourites but they were on the slide again in the 12th over. Ambrose set off for a single to mid-wicket, was correctly sent back by his captain and run out by Bopara's accurate return.

Sussex have enough batsmen capable of playing big shots at the end but after Flower's intervention they did not have a prayer.

Mushtaq lobbed a catch to mid-wicket to give Middlebrook his first success and the off-spinner then picked up Jason Lewry. Between them, Essex's three slow bowlers had taken five wickets for 51 from their ten overs and once again underlined the value of spinners in Twenty20.

June 27, 2005