Sussex probably cannot wait for the return of the County Championship on Sunday following a seventh defeat in nine games against Middlesex .

The Sharks certainly looked like they had their minds on other things as a limp batting display followed by some sloppy fielding helped the Crusaders to a six-wicket win with an over to spare.

At least it was not the carnage of Chelmsford the previous evening when Graham Napier ripped their bowling apart with a record breaking batting display.

But in some ways this defeat was harder to take because Sussex had somehow managed to get themselves on top despite playing poorly for the majority of the evening.

The Crusaders appeared to be cruising past a below-par Sussex total of 151-7 thanks to a brisk 69 from Billy Godleman until spinners Mike Yardy and Will Beer changed the course of the game.

When the pair began bowling in tandem from the ninth over the score was 65-1 and Godleman looked keen to get things over with as soon as possible.

But Yardy conceded just 25 from his four overs and Beer collected 2-32 from his, including the prize wicket of Godleman, to leave Middlesex on 122-4 with four overs to go.

That highlighted once again how important spin is in Twenty20 cricket and Sussex's lack of success this year has a lot to do with the absence of Mushtaq Ahmed and Saqlain Mushtaq who proved so effective last season.

Unfortunately the seamers were unable to finish the job and it proved another miserable night for James Kirtley as he conceded 14 in the 18th over to put Middlesex firmly back on top.

That left the Crusaders needing 11 from two overs and Chris Liddle made it easy for them by bowling a wide and a no-ball as they finished on 153-4 with six balls left.

If that makes it sound like a fairly close contest then do not be mistaken. Apart from when Yardy and Beer were bowling the Crusaders were always in control.

The omens were not good from the first over with Yardy only managing a single after being promoted up the order to open in place of the out-of-form Chris Nash.

Murray Goodwin then suffered a rare failure as he was bowled by Tim Murtagh for eight but Prior looked in the mood for a big score as he blasted two big sixes before holing out on the boundary for a 17-ball 30.

Dwayne Smith showed a glimpse of what he could do by crashing a six into the pavilion but after he was out in the 11th over the Sussex innings lost all momentum.

Yardy tried to hold things together as he finally found some form in the competition but frustration eventually got the better of him as he was caught for 43 from 41 balls.

Only a last-wicket partnership of 32 in three overs between Carl Hopkinson and the recalled Will Beer ensured Sussex passed 150 but it never looked like being enough.

Yardy said: "I think we were probably ten runs short of a competitive total but we bowled well and if we had fielded a bit better we would have won. We scrapped hard but in the end it wasn't enough.

"I was happy with the way I batted but I got out at a bad time and we seemed to lose momentum after that."

He added: "I can understand that the fans will be disappointed but we still have one more game and are desperate to put on a good show. If we can't get ourselves up in front of a crowd of 6,000 then we are in the wrong jobs."