A frustrating season for Sussex could still end with some silverware.

Victories in their two remaining games might be enough to clinch the Pro40 League title after the Sharks went top with victory over Lancashire Lightning at Hove last night.

After their slow bowlers had helped restrict Lancashire to 187 by taking eight wickets between them, Sussex eased to a four-wicket win thanks to Murray Goodwin’s first List A half-century of the season.

Neither side was at their strongest but on this evidence Sussex have more depth than a county with infinitely greater resources which says a lot about the enduring excellence of their youth system.

A crowd of around 3,500 who braved weather more like late October than August seemed to enjoy themselves, despite the lack of big hits outside the power-plays and a sluggish pitch which inhibited the stroke players.

Part-time spinners Mike Yardy, Rory Hamilton-Brown and Chris Nash more than compensated for the absence of both Mushtaq Ahmed and Ollie Rayner, Sussex’s first-choice Championship twirler at the moment.

Yardy and Nash then launched the reply with a confident stand of 53 in ten overs and although Sussex lost wickets in successive overs from Glenn Chapple, the dependable Goodwin always had the chase under control.

Yardy’s 42 off 78 balls, including five fours, maintained the momentum although things might have been different had he been run out, as he should have been, by Francois Du Plessis on 27.

A brief cameo from Dwayne Smith included a big six over long on but it was left to Goodwin to see the Sharks home.

They needed 33 off the last six overs but two boundaries off Tom Smith and then Oliver Newby helped get the job done and there were 11 balls to spare when victory came, Goodwin’s unbeaten 58 coming off 82 balls with six fours.

The Sharks face Middlesex Crusaders in their penultimate game at Hove on September 11 before going to Trent Bridge for their final match four days later.

They last won the competition in 1982 but have gone close in the last two years. With Luke Wright and Matt Prior back they have a good chance of beginning the final year of 40-over cricket as champions.

Lancashire were missing some of their big guns, notably captain Stuart Law.

In the absence of the injured Dominic Cork and Sajid Mahmood they fielded three seamers who have been on loan at other counties this season but were left with too little to defend after a woeful batting collapse.

Having won the toss, Lancashire were ideally placed at 102-1 halfway through their innings with opener Lou Vincent well set having just reached his half-century from 71 balls.

Vincent hit four boundaries and three sixes but Smith, in particular, kept the dangerous New Zealander in check and when he missed a sweep off Yardy in the 20th over the rot set in.

Yardy bounced back after an expensive first over to also pick up the wickets of Du Plessis and Chapple and got excellent support from Sussex’s two off-spinners.

Hamilton-Brown had Steven Croft superbly caught at long on and cleverly came from wide of the crease to get through Gareth Cross’s defensive push.

However, they were outperformed by Nash who had only bowled three overs in one-day cricket this season before last night.

The 26-year-old is clearly full of confidence at the moment with the ball in his hand.

He took an unlikely 3-7 in the Championship against Surrey last week and took another career-best including Paul Horton, who held Lancashire together with 56 off 75 balls before holing out to long off when he would have been looking to accelerate with four overs to go.

Adams rolled back the years by running out Karl Brown and Tom Smith in a tigerish fielding display, epitomised by Smith’s full-length dive which accounted for Croft.