Sussex needed less than an hour at Hove yesterday to start their Championship defence with a win.

They knocked off their target of 56 for the loss of just two wickets against Kent.

Skipper Chris Adams was thrilled that the champions have made such an impressive start but admitted it was more difficult than it might have appeared.

He said: "We took a few too many knocks for my liking but we came through with 22 points although it might have been different if we'd had to chase 150-odd instead of 56."

Fittingly for Sussex, experienced opener Richard Montgomerie achieved the bulk of the scoring to lead them home with an unbeaten 33 following on from his 175 in the first innings.

A no ball from former Sussex pace bowler Yasir Arafat put the champions over the winning line after Montgomerie had taken them to the brink with a vigorous pull to the square-leg boundary.

Sussex lost opener Carl Hopkinson (11) in the 10th over of the day when he was trapped leg before by left-arm spinner Min Patel pushing forward.

Chris Nash followed for a single when Sussex still needed 16, leg before to Arafat as he shuffled across the line.

Montgomerie set about the task in typically patient fashion and his first aggressive shot came when he hammered Simon Cook to the mid-wicket boundary in the second over of the day.

Cook came in for more punishment from Montgomerie in his following over when he cracked him stylishly to the cover boundary off the back foot.

Patel, responsible for making Sussex bat again by adding 86 with Robbie Joseph for the last wicket on the third day, gave away no easy runs and Murray Goodwin survived an appeal for a catch at the wicket before Sussex eased home.

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