Essex are through to Monday's quarter-finals of the Twenty20 Cup - even though they suffered a nine-wicket thrashing at the hands of Sussex at Chelmsford last night.
Great show - young fans enjoy the spectacle of Twenty20 cricket last night Picture: NIGEL BROWN
The county booked their place by being one of the two third-placed counties with the best record in the competition.
They faced an away tie when the draw was made today but Ronnie Irani and his players will not be bothered about that.
They will just be relieved that they have progressed into the last eight following another lamentable performance in front of a 7,000 crowd.
As when they lost by the same margin against Middlesex at the beginning of the week, their batting again proved brittle in making 134 for eight, while their bowlers never caused a ripple of concern.
Sussex sped to the winning post on the back of an unbroken partnership of 112 in a dozen overs featuring Matt Prior and Chris Adams, son of the former Southend United chief executive John.
Published Friday July 16, 2004
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