Sussex's interest in this year's C&G Trophy ended in a desperate 17-run defeat at Lord's.

The county did well to restrict a clinical Middlesex side to 258-8 from their 50 overs after man-of-the-match Andy Strauss and Paul Weekes had put on 138 for the first wicket.

James Kirtley took 5-41 including four wickets in two overs at the end of the innings.

Most of Sussex's key batsmen got starts but no one could improve on Chris Adams' relatively restrained 39 and although Mark Davis and Kirtley flung the bat to good effect late on, their captain's departure with seven overs left effectively settled the issue.

Adams' unbeaten 80 in the win over Hampshire three weeks ago had almost single-handedly sealed the county's place in the fourth round but it was always asking a bit too much to expect a repeat performance here.

He put on 72 in 13 overs with Robin Martin-Jenkins for the fourth wicket and even when Martin-Jenkins was superbly caught off his own bowling by Ashley Noffke, Adams must have considered a target of 101 in 15 overs within range if he could help build another partnership.

But Australian Noffke bowled only the second maiden of the match at Matt Prior to complete his spell and a frustrated Prior drove Abdul Razzaq's slower ball to mid off in the next over.

One of Sussex's three century-makers in last week's Championship game against Nottinghamshire was gone and another, Kevin Innes, perished three overs later, bowled having a swipe across the line at Simon Cook.

The required rate had risen to above eight an over by the time Adams was castled aiming to hit Paul Weekes' off spin over the grandstand.

Kirtley and Mark Davis at least gave a sizeable Sussex contingent something to sing about at the end, adding 58 off 42 balls in an unbroken ninth wicket partnership.

Neither deserved to be on the losing side.

The reply had begun badly when Tim Ambrose had an indeterminate prod at Chad Keegan in the third over and was caught behind.

Keegan and Noffke both bowled accurately with the new ball but Richard Montgomerie and Murray Goodwin's second-wicket partnership was starting to blossom when Goodwin perished trying to run Cook down to third man after the pair had put on 60 in 14 overs.

Montgomerie was caught and bowled driving at Razzaq's slower ball in the 22nd over and although Martin-Jenkins and Adams briefly raised Sussex hopes with a run-a-ball stand of 72 it proved a false dawn.

That win at the Rose Bowl remains their only success in limited overs cricket this season which the management will readily concede is not good enough for a side with so many potential one-day match-winners.

There is still the Twenty20 Cup, which starts next month, but expect a re-think of tactics and perhaps even personnel by the time Adams and his men return to Lord's on Sunday week looking to kick-start their National League campaign after three successive defeats.

Their priority must be to help Martin-Jenkins to rediscover the zip which has made him such a mainstay of the side over the last few years.

Yesterday he was withdrawn from the attack after bowling just two overs with the new ball, the second of which cost 16 runs.

Strauss hit him for successive boundaries, whipped the next delivery through square for three and, after Adams had taken himself out of the slips to strengthen the leg side, Weekes drove him to the extra cover boundary.

Martin-Jenkins' father Christopher had not even taken his place in the press box by the time his son was being replaced at the pavilion end by Billy Taylor.

Weekes took liberties with Kirtley early on as well, coming down the pitch to send the ball high over the fence at point off a thick outside edge, and Middlesex had posted their first 50 in the tenth over.

Both went on to make chanceless half-centuries.

Strauss reached his with his seventh four in the 21st over and Weekes followed in the next when he reverse-swept Mushtaq Ahmed.

But that was the last boundary for 15 overs as Mushtaq and Mark Davis checked Middlesex's progress in the middle of their innings with some canny spin bowling.

Mushtaq's clever variations never allowed the batsmen to settle while Davis maintained an immaculate line to frustrate home hopes of acceleration.

Mushtaq make the breakthrough in the 29th over when Strauss, having faced 84 balls and hit a six off Mushtaq and nine fours, mis-timed a sweep while Weekes added just one more boundary in going from 50 to 73 before he lost patience and drove Billy Taylor to long on.

Middlesex did not score their next boundary until the 42nd over and when they tried to push on they lost six wickets in the last seven in adding 34 runs, the last five in just 16 balls.

Kirtley, bowling fast and straight, struck twice in successive overs after ending a stand of 37 between Owais Shah and Razzaq when Shah lofted him to long on.

Razzaq had briefly threatened some mayhem, scattering the egg-and-bacon ties with an effortless blow into the pavilion off Innes before pulling him over the square leg boundary for another six later in the same over.

But the Pakistani all-rounder holed out in the next over and two balls later Ben Hutton lost his off stump having an ugly mow at Kirtley.

Ed Joyce fell to Taylor attempting something similar and Kirtley was celebrating 4-4 from two overs when Cook spooned his slower ball to extra cover and David Alleyne was defeated by a full toss.

Middlesex beat Sussex by 17 runs