Sussex bowed out of the Royal London One-Day Cup tonight - even before this home defeat was confirmed.

They went down by two wickets to Glamorgan at Hove, having needed both a win and helpful results elsewhere to reach the knockout stage.

By the time young Dan Douthwaite clubbed Glamorgan towards the line with 52 off 35 balls, it all felt very flat.

The hosts knew that help was not forthcoming as Gloucestershire, Middlesex and Somerset had all already won.

So Sussex’s long wait for progress in the 50-overs competition continues.

This one will hurt given their dazzling start with four wins from the first five games.

It is a tough schedule and maybe that caught up with their relatively small squad.

This match mirrored their group stage as a whole.

Sussex initially shone and looked well-placed. Phil Salt, dropped at second slip off the third ball of the innings, hit four fours in his 21-ball 25 before he was caught behind square when fractionally late on a hook.

Luke Wright and Laurie Evans were more measured in their pursuit of 300-plus.

Wright edged between a motionless keeper and first slip for four off the lively Marchant de Lange to go to 14 but gradually gained momentum and looked set for three figures.

A noisy, enthusiastic and quite knowledgeable contingent of children at the ground for Schools Day were poised for that eventuality – as was the television cameraman.

But, as Wright pulled ferociously through mid-wicket and the camera panned towards Cow Corner, Billy Root stuck out two strong arms to take a terrific catch and remove the opener for 97.

Evans (110), who had kept things ticking over when Wright was in charge, then took up the mantle and reached three figures He added 121 off 14 overs with David Wiese (57) before picking out Jeremy Lawlor on the cover point rope. Evans’ first potentially show-stealing contribution to a Sussex white-ball innings this season featured 12 fours and two sixes and saw him face 87 balls.

Sussex did not make the most of the 17 balls which remained when he went but Wiese, who did not see enough of the strike in that period, deposited De Lange for six over square leg to round off the innings.

He has grown in stature as a batsman during this group stage and hit seven fours plus a pair of sixes in his 38-ball effort.

Sussex had to work for their wickets in the Glamorgan reply but David Lloyd (12) hooked Mir Hamza to Stiaan Van Zyl on the square-leg rope and Lawlor (48) could only fend off pace and bounce from Abi Sakande as far as Danny Briggs.

Will Beer produced a beauty at the end of his first over to remove Chris Cooke for 41. Then Marnus Labuschagne and Root, the men signed to cure Glamorgan’s batting ills, changed the mood. Labuschagne top-edged George Garton over the keeper for his second six to go to a run-a-ball 50 before being pinned in front by Briggs playing across the line for 54.

Briggs also got Charlie Hemphrey (6) thanks to a super Sakande catch and produced the arrow of a throw from the boundary which ran out Root for a 66-ball 78.

But Douthwaite took up the baton.