Sussex are desperate to have home advantage should they qualify for the knockout stages of the Twenty20 Cup for the first time.

And they can take a big step towards that objective by beating Kent Spitfires when the south group's top two meet at the County Ground tonight (7.30pm).

Two wins from their final three games should be enough for the Sharks and guarantee a full house at Hove when the quarter finals take place on July 24.

Batsman Chris Nash said: "The lads were talking about it after we beat Surrey on Tuesday. In football terms, playing at the Oval in front of 11,000 is like being at the Millennium Stadium, whereas 6,000 at Hove is more like Millwall.

"You have the crowd on top of you and the noise when anything happens is absolutely deafening. It creates a fantastic atmosphere which we all really enjoy playing in."

Leg spinner Mushtaq Ahmed will have a fitness test today on the sore neck which ruled him out of the win over Surrey but Sussex are likely to be unchanged.

Kent have been inspired by overseas signing Tyrone Henderson who topped their batting averages and has also taken six wickets. Skipper Chris Adams said: "We're not looking any further ahead than beating Kent which will be very tough. Like us, they seem to have found a winning formula in 20Twenty this season.

Sussex: Adams, Prior, Nash, Montgomerie, Yasir Arafat, Yardy, Hopkinson, Wright, Martin-Jenkins, Heather, Kirtley, Mushtaq Ahmed.

Kent: Stevens, Dexter, Hall, Tredwell, Van Jaarsveld, Denly, Walker, Henderson, O'Brien, Khan, Patel.