Third successive fifty for Travis but Spitfires' visit ends in another washout

Sussex Sharks and Kent Spitfires are still looking for their first win in the Royal London Cup after their Group A match at The 1st Central County Ground at Hove was abandoned with the Kent innings still 4.2 overs short of constituting a match. Both sides took a point each.

There were 34.4 overs of cricket, which was something of a miracle with the rain and very strong winds, with the floodlights burning brightly in the gloom. After a three hour delay, a 31-over game - later reduced to 29 a-side by brief rain interruptions - got underway at 2pm, with Kent having decided to field first. 

Tom Clark's 44 from 43 balls set Sussex a decent platform on their way to 209 for 7. The highlight of the innings was a fourth-wicket stand of 63 in eight overs between Travis Head (52), who made his third successive fifty of the campaign, and Ben Brown, with an inventive 38 from 29 deliveries in his first appearance in the competition this season.

Despite a late flurry of strokes from David Wiese, who made 31 from 23 balls, the Sussex score did not look enough. And that feeling was strengthened when Kent captain Ollie Robinson and former Sussex academy player Tawanda Muyeye hit 48 from the first five overs of Kent's reply. But then came the heaviest rain of the day and the umpires had no alternative but to call the game off with Kent still short of batting the ten overs that would have made a match. 

The outcome means that Sussex and Kent have each lost two games and had two abandoned and both counties face an uphill struggle to qualify for the quarter-finals.

Following the Sharks' seventh no result of the season, Head said: Travis Head (Sussex): "We’ve got to make sure we’re ready for Sunday now.  We’ve had a few matches called off in the T20 and now a couple in this competition. There’s a big advantage batting second in these situations. It was disappointing not to bat in the final overs because I felt in good nick. It was frustrating not to go on and make a big score. We’ve got to look to win all our remaining matches now.  We’ve got to rock up on Sunday and get stuck in and get a good result.”