Sussex head to Chelmsford tomorrow hoping to complete a Twenty20 double over Essex Eagles (2.30pm).

The Sharks won by nine wickets at Hove on Wednesday but were unable to build on their good start against Hampshire last night.

A sell-out crowd at the Rose Bowl did not see a ball bowled because of rain. The groundstaff had only just finished mopping up after a mid-afternoon cloudburst when the heavens opened again ten minutes before the scheduled 5.40pm start.

Chris Adams had won the toss and put Hampshire in but umpires Peter Willey and Peter Hartley abandoned the game at 6.45pm by which time most of the 9,000 crowd had already left.

Both sides took one point each while Hampshire will have to refund around £50,000 on ticket sales.

The Sharks will be unchanged for tomorrow's return game when they protect an unbeaten Twenty20 record against Essex by which time the south division will have begun to take shape.

Surrey have won their first two fixtures ahead of today's match against Hampshire at the Oval while Essex picked up their first win against Kent last night.