Chris Adams today hailed one of the best Sussex performances under his leadership after his side shattered champions Warwickshire's apparent aura of invincibility.

The Bears have not lost a Championship game since the day Sussex celebrated their first ever title in September 2003. That's 20 months and 20 games ago.

But they were not just beaten by Adams' resurgent side they were hammered. Warwickshire's veteran bowler Dougie Brown summed up the last three days succinctly. "We've all got sore backsides from the kicking they gave us," he said.

It was all over just before tea when Dewald Pretorius was bowled by Mushtaq Ahmed, the leg-spinner's eighth victim of the match and the 15th Warwickshire wicket to fall on an extraordinary day.

Sussex took the last five first-innings wickets for just 38 in the morning and, following on 231 runs behind, Warwickshire were bowled out for 146. Adams' men clinched an emphatic victory by an innings and 87 runs with a day and a session to spare.

A fortnight ago Sussex were on the wrong end of a hammering themselves when they lost by ten wickets to Nottinghamshire, but Adams believes that chastening experience may have actually done them some good.

He said: "That game was an important experience because it made us realise just how much losing hurts, and believe me it hurts.

"Full credit goes to the whole team for beating an exceptional Warwickshire side in such emphatic style. It's never easy to win a Championship game but the way we performed proved that when we are on fire we are a very good team."

In the last 15 years no side scoring 400 in the first innings at Hove has lost so Sussex were clearly in the box seat after making 412 on a pitch where the bounce got more and more unpredictable.

Even so there was work to do and Adams admitted he'd had words with his team who looked lacklustre in the field when Warwickshire began their reply on Wednesday afternoon.

"We didn't bowl well with the new ball and as a side were pretty average," he said. "So we had words at tea and another ten minute chat before play started yesterday and full credit to the guys for the way they responded."

A devastating mixture of swing and spin sent Warwickshire's first innings into steep decline when their last five wickets fell in 13.3 overs, three of them to Jason Lewry who collected only his second five-wicket haul since the Championship-winning game against Leicestershire.

The durable left-armer claimed his first two wickets by shaping the ball back into the batsmen, but it was conventional swing which accounted for Jonathan Trott, Pretorius and Neil Carter, the latter courtesy of a stunning diving catch at gully by Mike Yardy.

Mushtaq trapped Tony Frost as he propped forward and Heath Streak was snapped up at bat-pad and an hour before lunch Warwickshire were facing the music again.

James Kirtley gave Nick Knight a proper working over and Warwickshire's captain needed lengthy treatment after he was struck on the hand. It was no surprise when he played back to one which kept low and lost his off stump.

Before the interval Johan van der Wath had Michael Powell caught off a leading edge and the steady procession continued in the afternoon.

Trott was beaten in the flight by Mushtaq and Ian Bell, having twice nearly run himself out, was caught behind as he tried to cut the mercurial Mushy. Not a bad 200th scalp for your county.

Lewry returned to the attack to bowl Alex Loudon via a bottom-edged pull while the decision to promote Carter up the order and hit Mushtaq out of the attack could hardly be considered a success. He lasted just 13 balls before losing his off stump to Lewry.

There was brief resistance from Tony Frost and Brown but Adams must have known it was going to be one of those special days when James Kirtley rewarded his decision to bring him back into the attack with wickets in successive overs.

His sixth ball nipped back a long way to uproot Frost's off stump while the alliance between Brown and Ashley Giles was worth 284 runs fewer than their record-breaking stand in 2000 as Brown drove straight to cover.

Mushtaq wrapped things up but only after a couple of defiant blows from the bespectacled Pretorius who hit his first and third balls for six.

Sussex have bent the knee to Warwickshire far too often in recent years. This was only their second win over them in 16 attempts. Their other victory came two years ago, also by an innings and also with a day to spare. And every Sussex supporter knows how that particular season ended.