It has taken them three attempts, but Sussex have finally got the hang of Twenty20 cricket.

A crowd of 3,500, which was significantly more than the county had expected, saw them revive their feint hopes of joining Atomic Kitten at finals day next month with a 41-run win over Middlesex which is as emphatic a winning margin as you can get in cricket's new competition.

There have not been any complaints about the standard of Sussex's bowling or fielding in their two previous matches so when Matt Prior's blistering 46 at the top of the innings and Robin Martin-Jenkins' unbeaten 47 underpinned a score of 177-9, comfortably their biggest total in the competition so far, it always looked like being enough.

Andrew Strauss bucked the trend in day-night games at Hove by deciding to field first and although Paul Weekes made 39, Middlesex were quickly behind the required rate of nearly nine an over as Sussex bowled with far more discipline.

Martin-Jenkins sealed the man-of-the-match with four wickets as the Crusaders were dismissed for 136 with three balls unused.

They were still queueing 200 yards down Eaton Road when Prior launched the Sussex innings with boundaries off Chad Keegan's first two deliveries, the first deposited sweetly off his toes through mid-wicket and the next lofted over mid off.

Prior was just flexing his muscles. In the next over he tipped a perfectly good-length ball from Australian Ashley Noffke into the hospitality boxes on the scoreboard side before hitting the next delivery back over the bowler's head for a one-bounce four.

Opening partner Bas Zuiderent soon picked up the tempo, collecting successive boundaries off Noffke as they put on 39 in four overs before the Dutchman was caught behind off a thick-edged drive.

Murray Goodwin under-edged a cut off Simon Cook after adding 24 in two overs for the second wicket, but Prior continued to make hay and was in sight of a deserved half-century when he was run out in the ninth over.

Sent back by Chris Adams, he had no chance of beating Ed Joyce's throw, especially after he slipped in the middle of the pitch and ended up staring at the turf.

His 46 was made off just 26 balls with six fours and a six and no one else quite managed to maintain that tempo.

Adams hit one glorious six off Ben Hutton before driving straight to point in the 11th over, but the innings lost momentum between the 13th and 17th overs when Sussex lost Adams, Tim Ambrose and Kevin Innes while adding 23 runs.

Martin-Jenkins pulled Cook over mid-wicket for the third six of the innings but, while wickets fell at the other end, he adopted tip-and-run tactics to keep the scoreboard ticking and was there at the end to help Sussex plunder 30 off the last three overs.

His contribution was made off 34 balls with three fours and a six.

Jason Lewry made the breakthrough when he had Strauss caught at cover in the third over, but it was Martin-Jenkins who broke the back of their innings with two wickets in successive overs in his first spell.

The powerful Keegan, promoted up the order, chipped a catch to short mid-wicket off Martin-Jenkins' first ball and Sussex were glad to see the back off Owais Shah, who is capable of dismantling any county attack when the mood takes him, after he lost his off stump in Martin-Jenkins' next over.

The crowd lapped it up as Sussex tightened the noose although there some members of the audience struggled to contain their mirth when Zuiderent dropped Weekes at point off a sliced drive in the eighth over.

It was a rare abberation in an otherwise superb fielding performance.

Ed Joyce was run out after a terrible mix-up with Weekes left both batsmen at the same end and the relieved Zuiderent was able to break the stumps at the other.

Hutchison then struck with successive deliveries in the 12th over to virtually seal Sussex's success, inducing Cook to hole out to mid-wicket before yorking Weekes.

Adams made sure a few more coppers fell into his benefit collection bucket when he sprinted 20 yards to take a sprawling catch at wide mid-on to dismiss Hutton, an effort which summed up an eye-catching catching display by Sussex.

Zuiderent took a good one at mid-wicket to dismiss Noffke and Martin-Jenkins rounded off an impressive night's work when he yorked David Alleyne.

Innes was rewarded with the last wicket, Prior's tumbling catch on the leg side rounding off an excellent night's work by the Sharks.

And with Essex beating Hampshire, the race is now wide open to finish second to Surrey and possibly go through as group runners-up.

Sussex (2 pts) beat Middlesex (0 pts) by 41 runs