Sussex look as far away as ever from becoming any sort of force in one-day cricket after another disappointing performance at Grace Road.

Director of cricket Peter Moores had talked beforehand about mounting a charge up a congested totesport League table in the second half of the season.

Instead, a sixth defeat in ten has left the Sharks marooned with only Scottish Saltires below them in the second division. Although three or four wins now could still make a big difference, it's hard to see where Sussex are going to find the necessary consistency to put that sort of run together.

Leicestershire's 234-6, inflated by an unacceptable tally of 36 extras, always looked a tough ask on a slow pitch.

Chris Adams and Tony Cottey raised hopes of an unlikely triumph after Charlie Dagnall had wrecked the top order with the new ball, but Sussex lost their last seven wickets for 64 in 12 overs and the margin of defeat was 48 runs as Leicestershire completed the double over Sussex and claimed their first totesport win in five games.

In contrast to Dagnall's metronomic consistency which earned him 3-21, Sussex's new ball pair of James Kirtley and Mohammad Akram both had afternoons to forget.

Kirtley must feel like he's taking one step forward and two back at the moment. His performance in the Twenty20 Cup tie against Hampshire suggested he was returning to something approaching his best, but his six overs cost 46 while Akram, whose one day displays all season have lacked consistency, was even more expensive.

The tone was set from the start as both conceded three wides in their first overs. There was some lateral movement, but Kirtley and Akram struggled to harness it with Kirtley troubled still further by loose footholds.

Switching ends just seemed to make things worse. Leicestershire's new skipper Brad Hodge creamed him through the covers for three fours in the first over of his new but quickly abbreviated spell which cost 18 runs and also contained four more wides and a leg bye.

Akram did bowl opener Jon Dakin via an inside edge in the fourth over, but it was no surprise that Robin Martin-Jenkins, the county's best one-day bowler this season, came on to apply the brakes.

He bowled nine tight overs off the reel and ended a dangerous second wicket stand of 62 in 11 overs when a big nip-backer trapped Darren Maddy in front.

Sussex know all about Hodge's abilities after his brilliant 154 paved the way for the Foxes' one-run win in that run feast at Horsham in May.

The Australian had moved effortlessly onto 37 when he was sent back looking for a single to backward point and beaten by Cottey's accurate throw a yard short of his ground.

That was in Mark Davis's first over, the 20th of the match, and when Mushtaq Ahmed came on shortly afterwards the two spinners gave Sussex a measure of control for the only time in the match.

The Foxes scored just 29 in ten overs and Davis deceived Darren Stevens with his arm ball while Ottis Gibson holed out to long on to give Mushtaq a deserved reward in the 39th over.

But there was no improvement from either Kirtley or Akram when they returned at the climax and Leicestershire plundered 51 off the last five overs.

Akram's first over back went for 16 and although Martin-Jenkins'throw from long on ran out John Sadler when he was one short of a half-century, Jeremy Snape and Paul Nixon used all their experience to take full advantage of more wayward bowling.

Between them, Kirtley and Akram conceded 110 runs in 14 overs while any side conceding 36 extras is asking for trouble, especially when the wide count effectively gave the Foxes another three overs.

A target of 235 was always going to be a tough ask on a slow pitch and Dagnall made Sussex's task more difficult after an outstanding spell with the new ball.

The former Warwickshire man finished with 3-21, but it's no exaggeration to say he could easily have had five or six wickets.

Just ask Ian Ward how tough it was against him. In one memorable over, the left-hander groped like a blind man at four successive deliveries which missed the edge of his bat by a whisker. An inside edge off the fifth squirted out into the leg side before normal service was resumed with a lavish off-break which scraped past off stump.

It was almost a merciful release when Ward finally laid bat on one in Dagnall's next over only for Nixon to dive in front of first slip and cling on to the edge. Matt Prior had already been defeated by a beauty which pitched on middle and hit off while Murray Goodwin offered no shot to one which cut back off the seam to leave Sussex 58-3 in the 15th.

Adams and Cottey gave them hope by putting on 66 in 15 overs, but Leicestershire's spinners were to prove as effective as Mushtaq and Davis.

South African left-armer Claude Henderson wrecked the middle order with three wickets in four overs.

Cottey was stumped as he over-balanced trying to paddle a ball well outside off stump, Martin-Jenkins was pinned by an arm ball and Luke Wright, desperate to make an impression on his return to his former county, holed out to deep midwicket.

Sussex's last hope disappeared when Snape deliberately fired one down the leg side and Adams, looking to reverse sweep, was astonished to see Nixon diving full-length to take the catch where a leg slip might have been.

Mushtaq soon holed out in the 38th over and although Davis and Akram threw the bat towards the end the required rate had climbed to over ten an over.