Indefensible: Sussex head coach hits out after Surrey smash 258 at Hove

It was their highest ever score in the Vitaly Blast – and the fourth highest by any side - beating their 250-6 against Kent in 2018. It left for dead their previous best against Sussex at Hove, the 221-8 they scored here in 2004.

The Sussex bowlers had no chance as Surrey replicated their form of two days before, when they piled up 236 against Glamorgan. And once again it was Laurie Evans (93) and Sam Curran (68) who created most of the mayhem, with a second wicket stand of 157, the highest for any wicket against Sussex. Surrey, one of the strongest sides in the competition, have lost just twice in eight outings – and one of those defeats, surprisingly, came against Sussex at The Oval last month.

Paul Farbrace, Sussex head coach, said afterwards: “It was a contrast from last night, when we beat Middlesex. It was very ordinary bowling tonight, indefensible really.

“Surrey are a very, very good side, very powerful. I’m very envious of their batters striding out and looking like they’re going to hit us for four or six every ball. The thing that disappoints me most is our lack of nous. We bowled a lot of balls into the pitch, to the short side with the win blowing that way. We’ve got so much to learn. In terms of batting we had to go out and play the way we did. We had no option. We gave it a good go and Tom Clark played brilliantly at the top of the order. But when you’re chasing 13 an over you’re done.

“But we’ve got so much to learn as a bowling group. No excuses. Surrey, outstanding. Fantastic cricket pitch. But we have an awful lot to learn. We all have to think how we have to help this group. It’s a consistent theme I’m talking about at the end of every T20 game. We want to help the players but they’ve also got to help themselves. They’ve got to learn but they’re not learning quickly enough and we’re being taught lessons.”

Sussex had gone into the match fresh from their thrilling 4-run victory at Lord’s the previous evening, but still knowing they had to win virtually all their remaining fixtures to progress in the competition.

They got off to an encouraging start when Nathan McAndrew bowled Will Jacks with the last delivery of the opening over. But that was as good as it got for them.

The form of Evans, who scored a century in the Glamorgan game, was a painful reminder of how many top class white ball players Sussex have lost in recent seasons. Evans was a member of the star-studded Sussex side that reached finals day in 2018, as was the Surrey captain last night, Chris Jordan.

After ten overs Surrey were 107 for one (they were 107 without loss at the same stage against Glamorgan). Evans reached his fifty off just 28 deliveries when he pulled Henry Crocombe to cow corner for six – over the hospitality tents in the south-east corner of the ground.

The 150 came up off the last ball of the 13th over, as Evans square-drove McAndrew for four. Curran was finally out at 163 when he edged Tymal Mills to short third man. He had hit six fours and four sixes, two in succession over wide mid-on.

Evans looked destined for his second hundred in three days but he was caught at wide mid-on by James Coles off the bowling of Crocombe. But for Surrey there was no loss of impetus as Jamie Overton thumped 24 runs off 11 balls and Tom Curran 29 off nine, with three sixes and two fours. Crocombe and Mills went for 51 and 50 runs respectively, while Fynn Hudson-Prentice’s three overs cost 46. All the bowlers looked shell-shocked as they dragged themselves off the pitch.

Sussex needed 13 runs an over and their task looked hopeless, especially when they lost James Coles, pulling to backward square-leg, in just the second over. But after five overs they were 54 for one, and ahead of where Surrey had been at that stage. But then the impressive Tom Clark was stumped for a 23-ball 43. It needed something special from the Sharks captain Ravi Bopara. But he had scored just one when he attempted a slog-sweep against Sunil Narine and skied the ball to the keeper.

The Sussex batsmen had to keep swinging in pursuit of their improbable target and, inevitably, the wickets tumbled as the required run rate soared to 20 an over. They were all out for 134 in the 15th over and after Clark, Tom Alsop and Danial Ibrahim tied for the second best score, 17.