THERE’S normally one game which the ECB fixture list throws up each season which Yorkshire would probably rather didn’t happen.

For the past two years it’s been Netherlands away in the Clydesdale Bank 40.

This campaign, and last night’s floodlight defeat to Sussex at Hove in the same competition takes some beating.

Stuck on its own without any fixtures either side, this was a long trip to and from the south coast which the Tykes could have done without in an already busy schedule.

The fact the game ended in defeat will have done little to improve their mood on the coach trip home as well.

Yorkshire were easily beaten by four wickets at the County Ground.

Luke Wright did the damage – smashing his way to a magnificent 103 as Sussex chased down a victory target of 239 with 37 balls to spare.

It was a brutal innings from the England allrounder, who was making just his second appearance for his county this season after a stint in the IPL.

He was aided by some wayward Yorkshire bowling though, with Mitchell Starc finishing with figures of 0 for 71 and Ryan Sidebottom conceding 46 runs from his five overs.

Wright was not the only batsmen to shine either, with Chris Nash getting Sussex off to the perfect start at the top of the order with a well-crafted 44 and Joe Gatting making 45.

It helped Sussex ease to victory in the end, with Yorkshire left to rue the fact they only posted 238 for nine from their allotted overs by the close.

This was due to a late batting collapse, which saw the Tykes lose their last five wickets for only 11 runs.

It saw them slump from 226 for four to their final total, to undo good work at the top of the order from a number of batsmen.

Joe Root was one of them with an inventive 46, while Andrew Gale hit a quick-fire 42, Gary Ballance made 40 and Phil Jaques departed for an entertaining 37.

The fact none of them went on to post a match-winning total always looked like it might be an issue though, with this loss making it two defeats from their opening three games in this season’s tournament.

That’s already as many as three of the teams who made the last four in 2011. Yorkshire are next in action against Unicorns at Scarborough on Sunday.

SCORECARD

Sussex v Yorkshire
At Hove.

Yorkshire
A W Gale b Nash 42
A Lyth c Joyce b Nash 27
P A Jaques c Gatting b Panesar 37
G S Ballance c Joyce b Beer 40
J E Root c Panesar b Khan 46
A McGrath c B C Brown b Liddle 26
G L Brophy b Liddle 5
Rafiq c B C Brown b Khan 0
M A Starc not out 4
R J Sidebottom c & b Khan 2
Extras (b1 lb1 w5 nb2) 9
Total 9 wkts (40 overs) 238
Fall: 1-49 2-97 3-135 4-161 5-225 6-227 7-
228 8-234 9-237
Did Not Bat: Moin Ashraf.
Bowling: Liddle 7-0-42-2. Khan 8-0-51-3.
Nash 8-1-34-2. Beer 7-0-55-1. Panesar 8-
0-40-1. L J Wright 2-0-14-0.

Sussex
C D Nash run out 44
E C Joyce c Root b Sidebottom 0
L J Wright run out 103
M W Goodwin c Ballance b Ashraf 1
J S Gatting c Sub b Root 45
M W Machan c Ballance b Root 15
B C Brown not out 11
W A Beer not out 1
Extras (b4 lb2 w6 nb8) 20
Total 6 wkts (33.5 overs) 240
Fall: 1-22 2-71 3-87 4-177 5-203 6-235
Did Not Bat: A Khan, C J Liddle, M S Panesar.
Bowling: Starc 8-0-71-0. Sidebottom 5-0-
46-1. Ashraf 7-1-28-1. Root 4-0-21-2. Rafiq
5.5-0-47-0. McGrath 4-0-21-0.

Sussex beat Yorkshire by 4 wkts