SUSSEX’S love-hate relationship with Arundel continued yesterday as Gloucestershire put a dent in their NatWest T20 Blast prospects.

Having scraped a draw in their rain-affected Championship match with Northamptonshire on Saturday the Sharks were beaten by 11-runs in front of a crowd in excess of 6,000.

The Castle Ground is one of the most picturesque on the county circuit but Sussex’s results there are not as attractive.

They have gone four seasons without tasting success at Arundel and never looked like ending that run after Hamish Marshall smashed 90 from 55 balls.

Ajmal Shahzad took career-best figures of 3-26 but the rest of the Sussex bowling was mediocre as Gloucestershire set an imposing target of 184-4.

Skipper Luke Wright kept Sussex in contention with a 47-ball 71 but Gloucestershire took wickets at key times to secure a victory which was more emphatic than the margin suggested.

After having their previous two games in the competition rained off it leaves the Sharks fourth in the South Group and Shahzad admits the back-to-back games against Kent and Middlesex on Thursday and Friday will be vital to their hopes of qualifying for the quarter-finals.

Shahzad said: “We bowled well up front but Marshall batted well and we allowed them to get 20 or 25 runs too many.

“We thought 160 was about par so we were a little disappointed with the way we bowled but Luke gave us an unbelievable start.

“If someone had managed to stay in there with him I think we would have done it but now we need to dust ourselves down and go again on Thursday.

“It’s a shame we have lost a bit of momentum in this competition after the two abandoned games but if we can bounce back against Kent and Middlesex we’ll be in a very strong position.”

Wright’s decision to bowl first after winning the toss looked a good one when Shahzad trapped Michael Klinger lbw in only the second over.

But after restricting Gloucestershire to 28-1 from the first five overs Sussex were unable to maintain their intensity in the field and discipline with the ball.

Marshall took advantage as he brought up his 50 from 31 balls and then upped the tempo even more in a partnership of 120 from 75 balls with Ian Cockbain.

Danny Briggs, Will Beer and Tymal Mills all went for more than ten an over and Wright had to turn to part-time spinner Chris Nash in an attempt to tighten things up.

Even when Shahzad returned to have Marshall caught ten short of his century Benny Howell came in to add fresh impetus to the Gloucestershire innings by blasting 23 from just eight balls.

Sussex made a positive start in reply but their hopes of chasing down 185 to win were undermined as they lost wickets at regular intervals.

Nash fell for 13 top edging a sweep off Graeme van Buuren and then former Sussex spinner Tom Smith trapped Phil Salt and Ross Taylor lbw.

Wright kept Sussex’s hopes alive as he reached his half century from 38 balls but after twice clearing the ropes he was then caught on the midwicket boundary.

The game was up after that but Matt Machan put a gloss on the defeat – and gave the crowd something to cheer – by hitting three towering sixes in his 18-ball 31 before being bowled by a superb yorker from Matt Taylor who finished with figures of 3-29.