What is about Sussex which brings the best out in Kent's South African imports?

Last month Justin Kemp won a C&G game at Tunbridge Wells with a barrage of sixes and last night Andrew Hall undermined the county's bid for a fifth successive win in the Twenty20 cup with three wickets in five balls.

The Sharks were cruising to their target of 156 at 120-3 when Hall dragged his side back from the brink in the 16th over.

Mike Yardy, who had put on 66 in eight overs with skipper Chris Adams, saw his off stump sent cartwheeling by the second ball of the over. Adams got a nick to the fifth delivery and Hopkinson was yorked by the last.

Sussex were still in contention with 28 needed off three overs but they lost Yasir Arafat and Robin Martin-Jenkins in successive overs and their last hope effectively disappeared when Luke Wright was ninth out - his stumps spread-eagled by Amjad Khan - off the first ball of the penultimate over.

Sean Heather hit a boundary to get the equation down to a manageable 11 off seven balls but when last man James Kirtley became Khan's third victim Sussex had lost their last seven wickets for 25 in just 22 balls.

Essex's victory over Middlesex meant Sussex dropped back down to third place in the south group and they will need one more win to qualify for the knockout stages for the first time, even if it is as one of the two best third-placed sides.

And it looks as if they will have to do so without Mushtaq Ahmed who was driven from the ground during the interval with his neck in a supporting brace.

He will definitely miss tonight's trip to the Rose Bowl and a meeting with a Hampshire side whose defeat by Surrey last night effectively ended their chances of going through but who will need no incentive to upset their neighbours given the recent history in games between the sides.

Cricket manager Mark Robinson said: "We did really well for 95 per cent of the game and Chris was awesome. With five overs left we had Kent by the balls. But Hall bowled a brilliant over and we've come out on the wrong side.

"Perhaps we were a bit slow out of the blocks as a side for the first four or five overs which you can't afford to do in Twenty20.

"But there were plenty of positives such as Chris's batting and Sean Heather's performance. I still felt at the end that he would win the game for us."

Adams will certainly feel the pain of defeat more than most.

He made his first half-century in Twenty20 in his 23rd appearance and looked to be pacing Sussex's reply to perfection.

His 63 came off just 43 balls with six boundaries - the majority driven straight down the ground - and a six flicked over backward square off Kent's other South African Tyrone Henderson.

Sussex's other big hope Matt Prior had warmed up earlier in the day by hitting a six out of the practice nets which dented the bonnet of his own car.

But both he and Chris Nash were run out and you always got the impression that Adams needed to stay there to see the job through.

It looked like being an even more uncomfortable night for the vast majority in another Hove full house of 6,000 when Kent's openers Darren Stevens and Neil Dexter rattled up 61 before the fielding restrictions were lifted after six overs.

At 97-1 at the halfway stage Kent were still well placed but Yardy and Heather dragged their side back into contention with some impressive bowling.

Yardy has done it before in Twenty20 with his slow left-arm by mixing his pace and bowling straight. But Heather, who had only bowled one over in the competition prior to last night, was a revelation.

He took 3-19 with all of his victims caught in the deep and between them the Sussex pair conceded just 38 runs in eight overs.

Stevens, in particular, looked in the mood as he laid into Kirtley and Arafat, upper-cutting the Pakistani for six and belting five boundaries with ferocious power as he raced to 36 off just 22 balls.

But Arafat had his revenge when he held a head-high catch at long on in the sixth over and when Robin Martin-Jenkins extended every inch of his 6ft 5in frame to intercept Hall's drive at long on in the 11th Kent were never the same again.

That gave Heather his first success and he followed it with wickets in each of his last two overs.

Dexter struggled to accelerate after his blistering start before planting a full toss straight to deep mid-wicket and the dangerous Tyrone Henderson perished in exactly the same manner. Lucky Heather? Perhaps. But he was not going to complain.

As soon as the quicker bowlers returned Arafat conceded 12 off his first three balls but Sussex were quite happy to have conceded 58 runs in the second half of the innings and by keeping wickets in hand their run chase was going to plan - until Hall cranked up the revs to ensure Kent have won as many games in this season's competition as they had in the previous three.

Sussex, too, are much improved in Twenty20 and will back themselves to bounce back against Hampshire tonight.