Murray Goodwin has revealed the moment of fortune which helped Sussex complete a memorable winning weekend.

The Sharks scored their first National League win of the season in astonishing style, recovering from 3-3 to beat Middlesex by 49 runs.

Success kept the county on a high after Saturday's rather more comfortable Championship win in Kent.

Kevin Innes took career best one-day figures of 5-41 to help his side win yesterday's contest at Lord's after Goodwin's 81 not out had provided a victory platform.

Goodwin, however, could have been out second ball with Sussex yet to put a run on the board when a delivery from Ashley Noffke touched his off stump but did not remove a bail.

The Sussex batsman admitted: "I played and missed, it went between my bat and pad and just nicked the stump. I've never had that before. God must have been on my side. We've still got a long way to go but this is a good stepping stone.

"It's a huge confidence boost to know we can come back when things aren't looking so good.

"I didn't think we had a winning score but our bowlers were awesome, especially to peg it back after the first ten overs."

Rain during the Sussex innings reduced the match to 39 overs per side with Middlesex set 183 to win after Duckworth/Lewis calculations.

They were 63-0 at one stage but Robin Martin-Jenkins and Mushtaq Ahmed applied the brakes before Innes returned to finish the job.

Innes said: "The ups and downs of cricket are amazing. I wasn't bowling my best at the start but when I came back and saw the ball was reversing I didn't think I was going to go too far wrong.

"Coming at Lord's as well is a good thing. Now we have to get on a roll."

Skipper Chris Adams praised the spirit of his side and had a special word for his batsmen.

He said: "Murray has had a tough time in one day cricket for us but he hung in there and will feel a little robbed because it looked a certain century.

"We've changed the shape of the side, given people different roles and it was like a new era for us."

Sussex's next seven fixtures are all one-dayers, starting with Hampshire at the Rose Bowl in the Twenty20 Cup on Friday.

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