Skipper Chris Adams admitted Sussex only had themselves to blame after they threw away a great opportunity to revive their hopes in the FP Trophy.

The holders were well placed to beat Surrey Browncaps under the Hove lights last night when the final ten overs began with 75 runs needed to overhaul Surrey's 281-7, six wickets in hand and their best player Murray Goodwin well set.

But while Goodwin was left stranded at the other end, he lost three partners - all to leg-spinner Chris Schofield - before holing out himself in the 47th over for 86.

Instead of letting Goodwin have the strike, too many of his team-mates seemed hell-bent on winning the game themselves and in the process they made Schofield look like Shane Warne - which he palpably is not.

Carl Hopkinson top-edged sweeping from outside off stump, Luke Wright holed out to deep mid-wicket and Rana Naved was stumped having an ugly mow across the line. Robin Martin-Jenkins was less culpable, brilliantly caught at short mid-wicket by the diving Doshi, but Schofield somehow finished with 4-32 from seven overs.

When James Kirtley was bowled off the last ball of the penultimate over, Sussex had lost their last six wickets for 49 in eight overs.

Goodwin's high-class 86 came off 78 balls but as his partners committed suicide at the other end frustration got the better of him. Nearly run out when he was sent back by Wright, he hurled his bat to the ground.

Sussex will have to win their last four games to have any chance of reaching the semi-finals now but the reality is they also need a lot of other results to go their way.

Adams said: "It was a spirited run chase but we tried to win it from a bit too far out.

"The idea was to get Murray back on strike because he was playing fantastically but we took too many risks too soon - perhaps that was down to bit of inexperience. "

From an unpromising 75-3 after 20 overs, Goodwin had led a recovery with Chris Nash. They put on 95 in 17 overs with Nash reaching his second one-day half-century only to spoil his good work by spooning a catch to mid off as he tried to work the ball through leg.

Travesty Well though Schofield bowled under pressure it would have been a travesty had the man-of-the-match champagne not gone to Mark Ramprakash.

Even after scoring an unbeaten 266 in the Championship last week, it was soon evident that he was not quite done with punishing the Sussex attack.

In after just two overs he did not offer a chance in his unbeaten on 142 - just five runs short of his career best and his second one-day hundred against the Sharks.

Initially content to let his partners play most of the risky shots, he moved through the gears after reaching his century in 44th over from 120 deliveries and scored his next 42 runs off just 20 balls.

There were ten fours and six sixes, the majority flicked or pulled over the 60-yard boundary on the scoreboard side with effortless ease.

Ramprakash proved how light he is on his feet during the winter but the way he manoeuvred the ball into the gaps with a flick of his wrists is no less impressive.

Once again Adams was hamstrung by the absence of his sixth bowler Mike Yardy.

Wright's ten overs cost 87 and with such a short boundary on one side and Ramprakash in fantastic form Adams probably felt he could not risk any of his fill-ins.

The other seamers did a good job. Kirtley picked up where he left off against Hampshire on Sunday but this time was rewarded with two wickets when he got the new ball to move late.

Naved deserved more than just his solitary success, Martin-Jenkins and Mushtaq Ahmed put a brake on the scoring rate in mid-innings and Mushtaq made two crucial interventions.

Sussex had promoted Wright, one of their better ball-strikers, up the order on Sunday to try to take advantage of the 15 overs fielding restrictions. It was only a partial success so in another bid to find the right blend Andrew Hodd opened with Richard Montgomerie.

Did it pay off? Almost. Having done the hard bit by getting himself in Hodd frustratingly picked out mid off in the 16th over having made 24 off 48 balls.

With Montgomerie having already suffered his first failure' of the competition it needed a steller contribution from one of their big guns if Sussex were to get anywhere near their target.

Adams could not provide it thanks to a stunning one-handed catch at backward point by James Benning but Goodwin nearly did.