Daniel Hughes said it was nice to do something special at the end of a tough campaign in the Vitality Blast.
The Sussex opener fired his first T20 century to help Sharks to an 18-run win over Middlesex at Merchant Taylor’s School
Sussex, who close their campaign against Hampshire at Hove on Sunday, have only won twice since opening night and are way off the pace in terms of qualification.
But they enjoyed watching Hughes bat right through for an unbeaten 108 from 52 balls, sharing a county record T20 partnership of 169 with the recalled Jack Leaning (65 from 48).
Middlesex had good cause to regret dropping Hughes on 28 as Sussex went on to post a daunting 213-3, although the home side looked nicely poised to challenge that as Max Holden slammed 52 from 20, his second successive half-century.
But Sussex’s spinners applied the brakes in the middle overs and captain Tymal Mills finished with 3-34 as his side ended their four-match losing streak.
Middlesex closed on 195-9.
Harrison Ward dominated the initial stages after Middlesex won the toss and put the visitors in, clattering two leg-side sixes and a trio of fours in his 29 from 16 before Naavya Sharma (two for 34) trapped him in front.
Hughes said: “It probably wasn’t pretty to watch at the start of our innings, but Wardy played beautifully in the powerplay and got us off to a flyer, which helped me find my feet and get the pace of the wicket.
“Me and Jack Leaning had a nice partnership. We’ve had a few partnerships this year in four-day cricket as well and he’s a great fellow to bat with – he keeps pretty calm and keeps it pretty simple.
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“We’ve lacked that sort of partnership in a few games we’ve played this year, we’ve had a few starts where we’ve batted well at the top and thrown it away, so it was nice to have a platform to launch at the end.
“Then we got it right with the ball as well. We didn’t quite get it right in the powerplay, we were a little bit too full, and then as the innings progressed we learned and got the job done.
“I didn’t really think I had a chance of getting there until I was on about 95 with a couple of overs to go. I’ve always wanted to get a T20 hundred so that was nice, but it was just great to get over the line because it’s been a tough campaign.”
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