Royal London One-Day Cup at Hove.
Leicestershire 120 (32.4 overs), Sussex 123-2 (18.1 overs).
Sussex won by eight wickets.
Sussex beat Leicestershire by eight wickets in a Royal London One-Day Cup match at Hove which lasted a total of just 50.5 overs.
Leicestershire were bowled out for just 120 in 32.4 overs before Sussex, led by Ali Orr and Tom Clark, knocked off the runs in only 18.1 overs.
Leicestershire came here with two wins out of two – now both sides have won two out of three.
And this match was over so quickly that everyone had time to watch most of the second half of Brighton’s Premier League clash with Manchester United at Old Trafford.
When Sussex bowled there was a little swing from Brad Currie, who took two wickets, and some movement from the clever Ari Karvelas on a pitch with a hint of green in it. But there was also some indifferent batting by the away side.
Sussex had chosen to bowl and the pick of their attack was Karvelas, 28, who was born in South Africa and represented Greece in a T20 World Cup qualifier against Italy. He is on a month’s trial with Sussex and has impressed with both bat and ball.
There were also three wickets for Delray Rawlins, who had figures of three for 22 in 5.4 overs. These were his best figures in List A cricket, beating his previous best, his 3-50 against Gloucestershire on Friday, in a match where he also recorded his batting best in the competition.
The Leicestershire procession started with the fifth ball of the second over when Nick Welch inside-edged Currie on to his leg stump.
It was six for two when Rishi Patel played crookedly forward to the first ball of the third over and was lbw to Karvelas.
The wickets kept tumbling. It was 28 for three when Lewis Hill was lbw to Karvelas to the last ball of the seventh over and then 29 for four in the ninth when Louis Kimber drove Karvelas into the hands of Archie Lenham at mid-on.
Next ball it was 29 for five when Harry Swindells, coming forward and aiming for the leg side, was lbw to Karvelas.
Aaron Lilley played on to Currie for a single to make it 30 for six in the 12th over and Leicestershire reached their nadir in the 16th when Tom Scriven edged Henry Crocombe to Tom Clarke at first slip for nine.
There was then a partial recovery as Wiaan Mulder (27) and Roman Walker (23) featured in the best partnership of the innings, adding 44 in 11 overs before Walker was bowled by Rawlins.
Rawlins broke through again in his next over when Mulder, going back to cut when he might have been forward, was bowled.
Beuran Hendricks hit Lenham for six over midwicket and there was also a breezy 16 off 18 deliveries off last man Chris Wright in a last wicket stand worth 27 before Rawlins brought the innings to an end by bowling Hendricks.
When Sussex batted they soon lost Harrison Ward, who played on to Wright in the fourth over. But the match was put beyond doubt by Orr, who hit Mulder for two vast sixes in the same over, both crashing into the block of flats behind deep backward square leg on the east side of the ground.
When Orr was caught at long-on for a 40-ball 44, with four fours and a brace of sixes, Clark, in the company of Chet Pujara, took Sussex comfortably home with an unbeaten 53 off 51 balls, with seven fours and a big six over midwicket.
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Ari Karvelas, who took three wickets for Sussex, said: “I played some first-class cricket in South Africa which helped me before I made my county debut at Lord’s last month. This is a great opportunity because Sussex have gone out on a limb for me.
“We keep getting better and I think that showed today. The ball was nipping around. It helps when there is a little assistance in the wicket.
“We were relentless, hitting our lengths as a unit. And then we imposed our stature with the bat which is what you have to do chasing small totals.”
Leicestershire captain Lewis Hill said: “It was a good toss to win and Sussex exploited the conditions well by putting the ball in the right areas.
“It did a bit off the seam. The white ball doesn’t normally do that. But their bowlers made the most of it and bowled really nicely. There were one or two soft dismissals as well, but Sussex really put the ball in the right areas.
“We would have been happy with two wins out of our first three, which is where we are. Now we have to get our heads down for Somerset on Friday.”
