Sussex are off the bottom of the National League after their batsmen battered Somerset into submission at Taunton.

The home crowd may have come to salute one of their former greats in Mushtaq Ahmed but it was Sussex's other overseas player who stole the limelight for once.

Murray Goodwin made 123, his first century of the season in any cricket, to underpin a total of 286-5.

Chris Adams offered the principal support with 69 off 63 balls as the county thrashed 103 off the last ten overs and 33 from the final two to pile up their highest total in the competition for four years.

Even on a typically easy-paced Taunton track which regularly ruins bowlers' reputations, it was always going to be too many for injury-hit Somerset who now swap places with the Sharks at the bottom of division two.

James Kirtley took 3-33 with the new ball to wreck their top order and only Keith Parsons (74) prospered as Somerset lost by 90 runs when they were dismissed for 196 halfway through the 39th over.

Now Sussex have to build on their second league win in the last three matches. On today's evidence it is hard to fathom out why they are languishing at the fag end of the table.

They are still capable of making their games in hand count and challenging for the third promotion spot in what is a wide open division but there have been too many false dawns before to start getting the bunting out just yet.

The run feast came after their third different opening partnership in six games were parted after just one ball, Matt Prior lobbing a half volley to mid on to give teenager Michael Parsons his first wicket for Somerset.

The flame-haired Parsons took 1-26 in his opening seven-over spell and caused Sussex's batsmen more problems than anyone with his consistent length but by the time he came back into the attack Goodwin and company were filling their boots and his remaining two overs disappeared for 26.

He was not the only one to suffer as Goodwin laced drives and pulls on both sides of the wicket with perfect timing against a seam attack which lacked variation and unthreatening off spin from Ian Blackwell and Keith Dutch.

He reached 50 off 67 balls, passing 1,000 runs in the competition at 38, before accelerating towards his century, reaching three figures from another 54 deliveries with a single off Blackwell in the 35th over.

Only six Sussex batsmen have made higher scores in the league and he would surely have picked off a few of those milestones had he not been run out in bizarre fashion in the 40th over. Blackwell did superbly to keep the ball in play off a slash to third man but Steffan Jones' pick up and throw on the run from fine leg was even better and left Goodwin short as he scampered for a third.

Goodwin faced 137 balls and hit 18 fours and it must have given him quiet satisfaction that he scored considerably more than 11 of his compatriots had managed between them 40 miles up the road at Bristol.

Tony Cottey had offered solid support with 41 out of a second wicket stand of 111 before losing his off stump trying to swipe Jones over mid-wicket but the real acceleration came from Goodwin and Adams who put on 112 in 17 overs.

Adams made Somerset pay for dropping him twice, on 44 and 58, by helping Sharks pillage ten an over at the end while Tim Ambrose belted 29 off just 16 balls with three fours and two sixes.

Even 286 is hard to defend at Taunton but Somerset were quickly on the wrong end of a thrashing after James Kirtley took three wickets with the new ball.

Peter Bowler, in his first innings since he was hospitalised by a throat ball from Yorkshire's Steve Kirby ten days ago, slashed to backward point while skipper Michael Burns edged to slip.

Cottey held a stinger at point off Jason Lewry to remove the dangerous Jamie Cox and when Carl Gazzard, who had earlier hit Kirtley over mid-wicket for six, touched one which held its line beautifully, Somerset were 40-4 with no way back.

Ambrose ran out the dawdling Dutch with a direct hit from point after he had put on 52 with Keith Parsons and by the time Mushtaq came on in the 23rd over to warm applause he was being implored by one Somerset fan on the boundary to "finish us off so we can go 'ome."

Instead, Parsons and Rob Turner delayed the rush for the exits after Somerset's last hope appeared to have gone when Blackwell was well caught on the deep square rope by Lewry.

They put on 67 in 11 overs but the game was up for Somerset when Parsons, who faced 80 balls for his 74, mis-timed a pull off Robin Martin-Jenkins.

Mushtaq was a tad expensive, but he is still on a hat-trick against Derbyshire at Arundel next week after removing Jones and Francis before Martin-Jenkins ran out Turner to seal victory.