Sussex certainly know how to serve up drama in the Twenty20 Cup.

Two days after losing on the penultimate ball at Kent they went one better in a thrilling run-fest against Hampshire at Hove.

Dwayne Smith looked like he had set the Sharks on course for victory with a brutal unbeaten 72 off just 27 balls as Sussex scored their second biggest total ever in the competition.

But Hampshire chased the target down in breathtaking fashion and scampered the winning single on the final ball, with James Kirtley missing the chance of a run out which would have secured a tie.

Even that description does not do justice to a game which epitomised what Twenty20 cricket is all about.

A sell-out crowd of 7,000 was treated to a brilliant spectacle and the only fly in the ointment was the way Sussex threw away what should have been an unassailable position.

In stark contrast to their defeat at Canterbury the batsmen delivered on this occasion but the bowlers, with one or two exceptions, did not.

The crowd probably did not mind too much about the result after a night of top class entertainment but Sussex now face an uphill battle to qualify for the quarter-finals.

At least coach Mark Robinson can console himself with the fact he has found a real gem in Smith.

The West Indian all-rounder looked a little rusty on his debut at Canterbury on Wednesday which was hardly surprising considering he had only met his new team-mates the day before after signing as a replacement for the injured Mushtaq Ahmed.

Sussex were already on their way to a decent total when Smith came to the crease with the score on 93-3 in the tenth over.

Matt Prior fell early but Chris Nash and Murray Goodwin put on 54 for the second wicket.

Goodwin went on to make 69 off 57 balls to lay the foundations for Smith to take the attack to the Hampshire bowlers and he didn't need a second invitation.

Smith took a few overs to warm up and could have been run out when in single figures but for a misfield but once he got going there was no stopping him.

He easily surpassed his previous best Twenty20 score of 29 as he sent spectators diving for cover with six sixes and four fours in his unbeaten 72.

A score in excess of 200 should always be enough to defend but try telling that to Hampshire.

They knew they had to get off to a quick start and Michael Lumb and Ian Harvey did the job with 48 from the first four overs before Lumb fell to a brilliant catch by Hopkinson off Robin Martin-Jenkins.

That just brought Michael Carberry to the crease though and he proceeded to blast 58 off just 29 balls to instal Hampshire as favourites.

But when he fell with the score on 159-4 to Rory Hamilton-Brown the match swung back Sussex's way.

With three overs to go Hawks needed 42 but Sean Ervine launched a scintillating onslaught of Kirtley and Smith to leave Hampshire needing just eight off the final over.

Three singles cranked up the pressure but when Kirtley bowled a wide and then a Chris Adams misfield allowed Hampshire to scamper through for two on the penultimate ball the scores were tied. Pothas hit the final delivery straight back to Kirtley but he somehow missed the stumps from close range to cap a remarkable game.

In The Argus yesterday we reported Sussex would offer a free ticket for a Twenty20 game next year if a match was rained off. The club's policy is to offer free admission to a match in another competition, not Twenty20.