Our route to Finals Day in the 2009 Twenty20 Cup

All week, we're taking our fans back to 2009 to relive our Twenty20 Cup win, ahead of our Finals Day #ReSwim this Sunday. Today, we're looking back on our route to Edgbaston...

The Sharks began their 2009 T20 campaign with a disappointing away defeat to south coast rivals, Hampshire.

After winning the toss, Sussex skipper, Mike Yardy opted to bat first but that was a decision which quickly backfired, as openers, Chris Nash and Murray Goodwin were dismssed for a duck and 12 respectively. 

Luke Wright, who was third man in, did little to stem the flow and was bowled first-ball by Hamza Riazuddin to leave the visitors floundering on 3-27. 

Ed Joyce and Dwayne Smith did manage to offer some resistance, however, with the pair putting on a partnership of 57 before Joyce was caught in the deep by Liam Dawson off the bowling of Imran Tahir. 

Smith went on to be his side's top-scorer in the match with 63 runs to his name, but with little support from his teammates, the West Indies star could only help Sussex finish on 133-8 from their 20 overs. 

In reply, the hosts never looked troubled - even when Michael Lumb was bowled by Smith for 21. 

Jimmy Adams and Sean Ervine were the batsmen to get Hampshire over the line, scoring 68* and 42* respectively to secure a comprehensive nine-wicket win with 23 balls remaining. 

Read a full scorecard here. 

Mike Yardy's men got back on track 24 hours later with a confidence-boosting win over Surrey at The Oval. 

Sussex again elected to bat first after winning the toss, and this time looked far more settled at the crease with Chris Nash scoring 40 off just 16 balls and Luke Wright hitting 58 off 46. 

Nash's quickfire innings came to an end when Pedro Collins dismissed him, but Wright remained a steady threat throughout the innings. 

Runs remained at a premium lower down the order, with even Smith, who had been so impressive in Southampton the night before, out for nought, but a late flurry of runs from Mike Yardy and Will Beer saw Sussex set Surrey 185 to win. 

The Surrey chase got off to the worst possible start when skipper, Usman Afzaal was caught by Robin Martin-Jenkins off the bowling of James Kirtley for just two, while James Benning only mustered six runs before being dismissed by youngster, Beer. 

Scott Newman's 38 and Stewart Walters' 34 meant Surrey refused to just roll over and admit defeat, but tight bowling from the superb Beer (1-8) and Yardy (3-21) meant their chase fell well short, eventually losing by 21 runs. 

Read a full scorecard here.  

Sussex failed to make it back-to-back wins when they suffered defeat to Essex in their third successive away match. 

The hosts chose to bat first after winning the toss, and began their innings well despite the early loss of Alistair Cook for just one, which gave Luke Wright his second wicket of the tournament.

Eagles captain, Mark Pettini looked to be in formidable form at the top of the order alongside Ravi Bopara, with the former hitting six fours on his way to 31 off 25 balls. 

Bopara also looked to be full of confidence with three fours and two sixes helping him score 45, but the duo were stopped in their tracks by Yasir Arafat who dismissed both and got Sussex back into the game. 

Ryan Ten Doeschate was Essex's next top-scorer with 28, but when the hosts were all-out for 148 with Arafat the pick of the bowlers (2-16), Yardy's side would have felt confident in their chase. 

However, another sluggish Sussex start saw Wright out for his second duck in three games, while Chris Nash and Joe Gatting got themselves off to good starts but failed to capitalise, falling for 19 and 17 respectively.

Dwayne Smith and Ed Joyce rallied to score 30 and 29, but when they were eventually both dismissed by Graham Napier, Sussex collapsed from 125-6 to 131 all-out. 

Read a full scorecard here. 

Sussex got revenge for their heavy defeat to Hampshire with a resounding victory of their own against the Southampton-based side at Hove. 

In their first home match of the tournament, Sussex lost the toss and were asked to bowl first, but made a dream start when Michael Lumb was bowled my Yasir Arafat for just 11 and Sean Ervine quickly followed, run out by Dwayne Smith for one. 

Jimmy Adams was the next to fall as James Kirtley and Ben Brown combined to have the Hampshire man caught behind for nine, and in the blink of an eye, Sussex had reduced their visitors to 3-27. 

Michael Carberry's 36 off 38 balls offered some resistance, but wickets continued to fall around him with the likes of Chris Benham, Dimitri Mascarenhas and Hamza Riazuddin unable to trouble the scoreboard as Mike Yardy's side impressed with the ball. 

Hampshire eventually finished their 20 overs on just 122-7, and in reply, Sussex came out of the blocks quickly with Chris Nash smashing his first ball for six and scoring 56* off 47 balls. 

Joe Gatting did fall for five, but Luke Wright's 28 and Dwayne Smith's unbeaten 31 accompanied Nash's fantastic half-century to secure Sussex an eight-wicket win. 

Read a full scorecard here. 

The Sharks were back on the road two days later, and suffered another defeat as Kent were victorious in Canterbury.

Sussex elected to bat first but got off to the worst possible start when Chris Nash fell for three, and things soon went from bad to worse as Robin Martin-Jenkins was run out for one, Dwayne Smith was gone first ball and Ed Joyce was dismissed for two. 

Murray Goodwin battled hard while wickets fell around him, hitting 39 off 32 balls before Robbie Joseph eventually had him caught behind, and Mike Yardy (26*) and Yasir Arafat (43) did well to drag Sussex to 132-7 from their 20 overs - but defending that always looked difficult. 

Yardy's men were offered hope, however, when Joe Denly was gone for two and James Hockly quickly followed for 14, both falling victim to a pumped-up James Kirtley, but Kent managed to steady the ship from there. 

A Geraint Jones half-century and Martin van Jaarsveld's 39 off 32 balls saw the hosts recover from a tricky start and canter to victory, winning by 5 wickets with three overs remaining. 

Read a full scorecard here. 

A return to Hove brought a return to winning ways for Sussex as they swept Middlesex aside at Hove. 

James Kirtley and Yasir Arafat struck early for the Sharks after their visitors had decided to bat first, with Nick Compton losing his off-stump to Kirtley for just eight and Billy Godleman gone for a duck at the hands of Arafat. 

Dawid Malan also struggled and was out for two as Mike Yardy got his first wicket of the night, before the Sussex skipper soon dismissed Neil Dexter and Tyron Henderson to finish with impressive figures of 3-22 from his four overs. 

With 33 runs, Gareth Berg top-scorer for Middlesex, but he was caught by Kirtley off the bowling of Rory Hamilton-Brown and the lower-order were quickly cleaned up as the Lord's-based side were all out for just 116. 

In reply, Hamilton-Brown backed up exemplary figures of 3-15 with the ball to star with the bat in stunning fashion as he opened the batting for the first time that campaign. 

With 10 fours and a single six, the youngster propelled Sussex to a thumping victory with an unbeaten 69 off 47 balls. 

Ed Joyce also finished not out, and hit the win boundary to finish 17*, but the Man of the Match was certainly Hamilton-Brown as Sussex secured a seven-wicket win. 

Read a full scorecard here. 

For the first time in the 2009 Twenty20 Cup, Sussex made it consecutive victories with another resounding win - this time against Essex. 

Essex elected to bat first with Mark Pettini and Alistair Cook opening, and both made a quickfire 18 before Cook was bowled by Chad Keegan and Pettini was caught by Will Beer off the bowling of Dwayne Smith. 

Smith was in the mood with the ball and soon had his second and third wickets of the match, first dismissing Danish Kaneria for nine and then having Matt Walker caught by Mike Yardy for an eight-ball duck. 

The West Indies international eventually finished with figures of 3-19 from his four overs, while Keegan (1-13) and Kirtley (1-16) also impressed as Essex were restricted to 126 from their allotted overs. 

In reply, Rory Hamilton-Brown looked confident after his superb display against Middlesex, but was stopped in his tracks by Mark Hardinges after scoring 28 off 22 balls. 

Nevertheless, Murray Goodwin was at his sublime best to keep the Sussex total ticking over, eventually finishing unbeaten on 64 to register his highest score of the competition so far. 

Captain, Mike Yardy was also unbeaten, finishing on 19, and the experienced pair got their side over the line with ten balls remaining to seal an eight-wicket win. 

Read a full scorecard here. 

Sussex refused to let the weather ruin their good form as they secured a two-run win in their next game against Kent at Hove. 

Under heavy skies, the Sharks were put into bat first and initially struggled in tricky conditions, Murray Goodwin dismissed for just one and Rory Hamilton-Brown going for 15 off 14 balls. 

Dwayne Smith, however, faced no such issues and put in a fabulous performance with the bat to score 69* off 59 balls, with three fours and as many sixes, while Ed Joyce and Mike Yardy added 17 and 21 to the team's total as Sussex finished on 131-3. 

Rain during the interval meant Kent's chase was delayed, before their innings was cut from 20 overs to eleven and their target reduced to 64. 

It was a tight and nervy run-chase, with Joe Denly scoring a run-a-ball 32* and Darren Stevens hitting 27 off 34 balls, but they couldn't quite their side over the line, eventually finishing on 61-0. 

Read a full scorecard here. 

Mike Yardy's men made it four wins in a row when Surrey visited Hove, securing six wicket win with three overs remaining. 

The visitors decided to bat first but soon regretted that decision, with captain, Usman Ufzaal out for a golden duck and Scott Newman out for 17 soon after - both dismissed by Robin Martin-Jenkins. 

Like Newman, Mark Ramprakash (20), Stewart Walters (15) and Matt Spriegel (18) all made starts, but another wicket for Martin-Jenkins and two for Yardy left Surrey on 76-5. 

Andre Nel's late flurry of runs added 19 to the visiting side's total, but when he was bowled by James Kirtley, Surrey were all out for 123 after yet another brilliant bowling display from Sussex. 

Murray Goodwin and Luke Wright then began the chase for the hosts, scoring 38 and 31 respectively to get the innings off to a bright start, before another integral showing from Dwayne Smith, who finished not out on 22, saw Sussex home and dry. 

Read a full scorecard here. 

Sussex secured their spot in the last eight of the 2009 Twenty20 Cup with a fifth win in succession as they trounced Middlesex at Lord's.

The hosts won the toss and batted first, but openers, Billy Godleman and Nick Compton were soon back in the pavilion after Robin Martin-Jenkins and Mike Yardy took their first wickets of the night. 

Eoin Morgan could do little to turn the tide and was bowled by Yasir Arafat for just three, while Luke Wright took the wickets of Tyron Henderson and Dawid Malan in quick succession to leave Middlesex on 70-5. 

Gareth Berg was the batsman to show some fight and resolve, eventually finishing unbeaten on 30, but his performance was too litte, too late as the Middlesex side failed to come to terms with the Sussex attack. 

The Sharks required 129 to book their quarter-final berth, but disaster struck when Murray Goodwin was gone for six and Luke Wright went for two balls later. 

Rory Hamilton-Brown was also dismissed for just five, and Sussex looked in a world of trouble, but the reliable Dwayne Smith did well to score an important 33, while Ed Joyce, against his former employers, made a brilliant 41* off 33 balls. 

Accompanying Joyce at the crease at the end of the match was Chris Nash, who finished unbeaten on 35 off just 13 balls, as Sussex powered to a six-wicket victory with one over remaining.

Read a full scorecard here. 

The Sharks stormed to Finals Day with a 38-run over Warwickshire at Hove in the quarter-finals. 

In front of a packed house, Sussex were put into bat first by their visitors, and lost Murray Goodwin for 12 early on. 

Luke Wright was then joined in the middle by Rory Hamilton-Brown, and the pair put on scored 38 and 27 respectively, before Rikki Clarke dismissed them both and then caught Dwayne Smith for 19. 

A sharp display in the field saw Warwickshire run out out both Ed Joyce and Mike Yardy to leave Sussex 111-6, but Chris Nash turned the tide well with a vital 29* off 14 balls to see the hosts finish on 152-9. 

In reply, Warwickshire couldn't handle the Sussex attack, with three of the top four out for less than six, but while Jonathan Trott remained at the crease, anything was possible. 

The young Englishman was the tournament's top-scorer, and scored another splendid half-century in this match, but when Hamilton-Brown trapped the Warwickshire man LBW for 56, the match was all-but done. 

Ian Westwood was the next top-scorer for the Bears with 19, but he too was dismissed by Hamilton-Brown as the spinner finished with figures of 4-15 from three overs to send Sussex to Edgbaston. 

Read a full scorecard here.