Sussex are closing in on a place in the knockout stages of the Benson and Hedges Cup after beating Kent with just eight balls to spare at Hastings yesterday.

Gold award winner Mark Robinson took 4-29, a career best return in his 34th match in the competition, to restrict Kent to 175 on a desperately slow pitch at Horntye Park.

Will House and Bas Zuiderent looked to be guiding their team home when they put on 61 in 13 overs for the fourth wicket, but in the space of three overs the complexion of the contest changes when first Zuiderent was needlessly run out and then House played on to Mark Ealham.

But Umer Rashid and Robin Martin-Jenkins kept their nerve, chiselling out an unbeaten match-winning partnership of 32 with Martin-Jenkins finishing the contest in style when he heaved David Masters over the rope at square leg for the third six of the innings.

It was another highly encouraging performance by the county, coming on the back of their crushing 61-run win over Middlesex at Hove on Friday.

James Kirtley must think captaincy is a doddle after leading his side to a second win in three days. It isn't, of course, and the absence of both Chris Adams and Tony Cottey has put added pressure on some of the more inexperienced members of the team. But the performances of Zuiderent, House and Rashid yesterday suggests Sussex's young tyros are coming of age.

Kirtley won the toss and put Kent in, but when Matthew Fleming and Robert Key were taking advantage of some unusually wayard new ball bowling from the home side to put on 43 in ten overs it appeared as if the captain might be left to regret his decision. But the breakthrough came in the tenth over when Fleming holed out to long on with the score on 59.

South African Daryl Cullinan had just hit Robinson with the minimum of effort over square leg for six and the next ball sped to the boundary at backward square leg. But Robinson had his revenge in the same over when Cullinan was bowled attempting an ambitious drive through mid on.

Robert Key top-edged a sweep off Rashid in the next over and when Mark Ealham was run out by Murray Goodwin's throw from short fine leg Kent were in danger of self destructing at 75-4 with half their overs used.

Paul Nixon and Matthew Walker put on 49 in ten overs and a total of 200 looked on the cards again as they started to find the gaps. But Kirtley returned to bowl Nixon and then Robinson took charge with three wickets in nine balls as Kent lost their last five batsmen for just 25.

James Hockley was stumped by Matt Prior, Martin McCague chipped a slower ball to mid-wicket before Walker holed out after making 51 off 78 balls. There were still ten deliveries unused when Masters drove Martin-Jenkins to extra cover to end the innings.

The key for Sussex was not to lose early wickets and they had reached 40 in the 13th over when Walker snapped up Murray Goodwin with his fifth delivery. Montgomerie and Zuiderent took the score to 73 when Montgomerie unluckily fell leg before trying to work a ball from Patel to leg which hardly bounced. With their two most experienced batsmen back in the hutch, the job was going to have to be done by the youngsters and alarm bells were starting to ring when, without addition to the total, Michael Yardy popped his fourth ball straight into the hands of silly point.

Fleming rang the bowling changes but Zuiderent and House maintained steely concentration. But Kent must have felt they were back in control when first Zuiderent was run out by Walker's direct hit from the covers after making 42. House (35) looked like guiding Sussex home until Ealham nipped one through his on drive.

But when Rashid steered McCague to third man for a boundary the relief around Horntye Park was palpable. Nine came off that over and the contest was over.