There might yet be a rainbow at the end of Sussex Sharks' dismal season in the Norwich Union League after they completed the double over Northamptonshire yesterday.

The Steelbacks have been in the promotion frame for most of the campaign but a six-wicket defeat at Wantage Road completed a double dose of misery after their failure by 38 runs at Hove in July.

Sussex's third win of the season was scratched and scraped from a mundane match in which Chris Adams was crucially the only batsman to score more than 40.

It was all Northants could do to muster 195-8, thanks partly to a late dash of 34 in 44 balls by Toby Bailey, and Adams needed to beef up a steady but sluggish start before helping his side over the line with eight balls to spare.

With Richard Montgomerie absent for the first time this summer, Jamie Carpenter came in and made little impact until bowled by Carl Greenidge in the fourth over.

Bas Zuiderent was first to take risks, although he was in defensive mode when lbw to Jeff Cook's first ball for 39, and a comfortable victory was in view until Northants were forced to call up rookie leg-spinner Rob White.

The young opening batsman filled in as bowler when Jason Brown was called away because of a family illness and he gave the Steelbacks renewed hope with wickets in successive overs.

After featuring in two half-century partnerships, Murray Goodwin attempted to sweep and was bowled for 38, then Will House was lbw to the surprise package in the attack.

There was one more scare when Tim Ambrose was caught off a no-ball from White in an unbroken stand of 63 in nine overs. Adams reached 50 from 60 balls and accelerated to an unbeaten 64.

It was his choice to chase a target when he won the toss and, as the Sharks had batted first in 11 of the previous 12 matches, perhaps there was an element of trying to do something different.

What he could not have anticipated was that Mal Loye would become an unwitting cohort at the top of the Northants order.

Normally one of the quicker scorers with a strike-rate of 73.85 per 100 balls this season, he played an exasperating innings for his team until run out by House's direct hit from mid-off in the 18th over.

Loye took 26 balls to get off the mark, then waited six more overs for something better than a single and finally trudged off with six from 50 deliveries in a total of 67-3.

White smashed four boundaries, then steepled a catch to deep mid-wicket off James Kirtley and David Sales hit sixes off Billy Taylor and Kevin Innes before tamely cutting his former team-mate to point.

Cassar departed to a brilliant, one-handed catch by Carpenter at short mid-wicket for 18 in 50 balls. Northants were almost killed off with on 143-7 at that stage, but Bailey salvaged 47 from seven overs with Greenidge.