Sussex’s FL T20 campaign got off to a disappointing start as they went down by ten runs against Surrey at Hove.

The Sharks looked favourites after restricting Surrey to 157-6 with Dwayne Smith (2-11) and Chris Liddle (2-19) shining with the ball.

Sussex then reached130-4 with three overs remaining thanks to some good hitting from Rory Hamilton-Brown (34), Scott Styris (35) and Mike Yardy (44).

But the dismissal of Styrisin the 18th over seemed to derail them and some brilliant bowling from Azhar Mahmood (1-27)and Jade Dernbach (3-15) at the death clinched victory for Surrey.

Surrey struggled to gain any momentum after they had won the toss and elected to bat as Sussex put them under pressure through good bowling and fielding.

Jason Roy kept the scoreboard ticking over as he made 42 from 33 balls but the run rate fell even further when he was caught behind off Chris Liddle in the 13th over.

Glenn Maxwell followed two balls later to leave Surrey on 88-4 and the Lions looked in danger of setting a target under 140 as they limped to 117-5 after 17 overs.

Some late hitting from Glenn Wilson (31 off 20 balls) and Azhar Mahmood (23 off 13) – mostly off the expensive Chris Jordan who finished with figures of 48-2 – saw Surrey take 40 off the final three overs to finish on 157-6.

Sussex lost Chris Nash for 12 in only the second over of their reply while Jade Dernbach claimed big-hitters Luke Wright (11) and Dwayne Smith (4) in his first over.

Mike Yardy and Scott Styris looked to have guided Sussex to the brink of victory with a partnership of 56 off just 25 balls but everything went wrong when Styris was caught in the deep going for a fourth sixth for 35 from 19 deliveries.

The Sharks needed 19 from the last 12 balls but Azhar Mahmood conceded just four in the penultimate over to make Surrey favourites.

Dernbach finished the game in style as he conceded just four runs and had Matt Machan bowled off the final ball to seal the victory.