Andrew Gale admitted he felt dizzy after the CB40 defeat to Sussex at Hove, but rather than fodder for a tabloid headline he was recovering from a blow to the head he received from an Amjad Khan bouncer early in his innings. Yorkshire Carnegie's batsmen all got starts, but no one player could kick on and take the total beyond a challenging 270. Instead Luke Wright scored a brilliant 103 as Sussex butchered some poor Yorkshire bowling and ran out winners by four wickets.

MATCH ZONE

MATCH REPORT

Andrew Gale admitted he felt dizzy after the CB40 defeat to Sussex at Hove, but rather than fodder for a tabloid headline he was recovering from a blow to the head he received from an Amjad Khan bouncer early in his innings. I have to start this report with an attempt at humour because there was little to smile about during the game itself.

Yorkshire Carnegie's batsmen all got starts, but no one player could kick on and take the total beyond a challenging 270. Instead Luke Wright scored a brilliant 103 as Sussex butchered some poor Yorkshire bowling and ran out winners by four wickets.

Jason Gillespie tweeted after the match: "Yorkshire fans, we were not very good tonight. Our disciplines with the ball were not up to scratch. We move on though."

Gale didn't take the field after being hit on the helmet early in his innings and in his absence Phil Jaques was tasked with restricting Sussex to less than 239 to win in Hove.

Mitchell Starc's struggled as he tackled the white ball under lights for the first time. His final analysis of 71 runs from 8 wicketless overs was not helped by his first over disappearing for 20 runs. When Ryan Sidebottom's first ball was a leg-side wide things began to look bleak. But then Ed Joyce drove Sidebottom's sixth ball straight to Root at cover and was gone for a duck.

Starc's misery continued when he had Nash dropped at point only to see a no ball signalled and a free hit given. He then bowled Nash with his next delivery and the ball ran to fine-leg for four byes. It summed up the Australian left-armers night as his first three overs went for 34 runs. On Sunday against Derbyshire he was very impressive, whereas tonight he struggled, but it would be wrong for TV supporters to judge him on this game - he's a much better bowler than was on show at Hove.

Sidebottom's first three overs yielded 1-28 and Sussex were storming along at 66-1 after 6 overs. It was a position Yorkshire would never recover from.

Ashraf replaced Starc down the slope and bowled as well as I've seen him all summer and when Starc returned up the hill he had immediate success when a Luke Wright straight drive flicked the bowlers boot with Chris Nash (44) short of his ground at the non-strikers end.

Starc dropped short outside off and Wright carved him over third man for 6, but Ashraf was putting in an impressive stint and caught the edge of Murray Goodwin's bat with Gary Ballance taking a fine catch at slip. Sussex were 88-3 after 11 overs.

Rafiq replaced Root after one over and Gatting hit him straight into Dave Callaghan's BBC commentary window in the Media Centre. In Rafiq's next over Wright went high over wide long-on and the re-introduction of Sidebottom down the hill saw Joe Gatting cut him behind point to the fence.

Wright and Gatting had added fifty for the fourth wicket before the end of the 19th over and the 150 appeared on the scoreboard after 19 overs. The Yorkshire team may have taken issue with the choice of music that followed - 'Tonight's Going To Be A Good Night' by the Black Eyed Peas!

Wright became the first player in the game to notch fifty, in 50 balls, as he pumped Starc through extra cover. He tucked him through fine leg and knocked him through wide third man for good measure.

Gatting (45) hit Root straight down Rashid's throad at deep mid-wicket, but the damage had been done and Wright wasn't prepared to let up. He was joined by Matt Machan (15), who got off the mark with three fours but then drilled Root straight to Ballance at mid wicket, but the required run rate by then was less than 3.5 an over.

Wright crashed a second six over long-off as Rafiq searched for a breakthrough that might keep Yorkshire in the hunt. The Sussex all-rounder, who was playing his first game infront of his home crowd for a year, hit Starc over mid-off to reach his century in 91 balls. He was the difference between the two sides and the only man who had made a forty-plus start count.

Wright couldn't see it through and was run out for 103 after a direct hit from Lyth at mid-wicket, but was the obvious candidate for Man of the Match. If he continues to play like that he will undoubtedly add to his 46 England ODI caps, the last of which he won in March 2011.

The pitch had appeared a little spicy early on as Gale shaped to hook Amjad Khan and was hit on the helmet. After taking a breather the next ball shot through at ankle height and it seemed to take the captain a little time to shake the knock off. He later admitted he didn't feel his usual self at the crease, but he's a determined leader and it would have taken a sledgehammer to have removed him from the field of play.

Adam Lyth pulled Liddle for four and then classily drove Khan through cover off the back foot. It's not often the skipper is held on nought, but it wasn't until the final ball of the fourth over that he pushed a single through cover.

Lyth played aggressively for his 19 ball 27, but will regret his drive off Nash which went straight to Joyce at mid-off. The score became 97-2 when Gale was bowled by Nash as Sussex turned to spin to stem the runs. Nash bowled his 8 overs and grabbed 2-34.

Phil Jaques hit a quick 37 from 42 balls before slapping Panesar straight to Joe Gatting at midwicket to make the score 135-3 halfway through the 26th over.

Will Beer dropped short to Ballance who pulled him well over midwicket for 6 and in his present form you cannot feed the left-hander easy runs. He made 40 in 43 balls with 3 other boundaries, but became another batsman who had made a good start but not scored big when he skied a chance off Will Beer to see Ed Joyce run around from midwicket to make Yorkshire 161-4 after 28.5 overs.

Joe Root played some well timed shots as he and Anthony McGrath looked to boost Yorkshire's total through the last 10 overs. A drive through midwicket was top dollar. McGrath top-edged a four to third man. Root reverse swept Beer square for another boundary as Yorkshire bwent passed the 200-mark in the 35th over.

McGrath leant back and clubbed Beer over cover and Root paddle-swept Khan to third man. Both batsman stroked Liddle over the top and down the hill, but then McGrath tried to pull the same bowler and top-edged an easy chance to Ben Brown behind the sticks.

Root top scored with 46, but tried to Rootscoop Khan only to dolly up a chance to Panesar at fine leg. Rafiq flashed at Khan and was caught behind. Brophy (5) had his leg stump removed by Liddle. Sidebottom aimed a pull at Khan and the resulting skier was caught by the bowler. 

Yorkshire had lost 5 wickets for 11 runs in 17 balls and the final total seemed at least 20 or 30 runs short. With the floodlights taking effect though, how easy would it be to chase down the runs. As it proved, far too easy.

JAMES BUTTLER in HOVE

MATCH PREVIEW

Yorkshire Carnegie bid to build on their impressive seven wicket win over Derbyshire Falcons on Sunday when they hit the road for Hove ahead of Thursday’s Clydesdale Bank 40-over match against Sussex Sharks.

Sussex will be no pushovers and currently sit top of the table after two victories in their opening two encounters at home to the Unicorns and away against Northamptonshire. The Tykes were outplayed in the corresponding fixture last season as they succumbed to a 76-run defeat to the Sharks who went on to reach the semi-finals.

There is a new found belief amongst the Tykes this season and a win in Hove followed by a positive display against the Unicorns at Scarborough on Sunday would see them handily placed after four matches. With only the top side from the seven teams contesting Group C guaranteed a place in the semi-finals there is little margin for error.

Gary Ballance was outstanding against Derbyshire on Sunday and he is a player whose star is on the rise. Now talked about as a candidate for an England Lions spot later in the season, Gary has slipped under the radar of the England selectors. Born in Zimbabwe but qualified to play for England there can be few 22-year-olds in world cricket blessed with the ability to fight with dogged defence if needed or open up and bludgeon attacks into submission.

His 77 from 60 balls at Headingley on Sunday was as good a one-day knock in a chase as you’ll see. With near perfect pace Ballance kept the Tykes in control of the match and his 6 fours and 4 sixes saw his side home.

The 22-year-old left-hander is oozing confidence at the moment after his unbeaten 121 chased down the 400 required to beat Gloucestershire in Bristol and a hard fought 76 boosted Yorkshire’s fightback against Hampshire in the Championship last week.      

Another 22-year-old impressed in his debut performance. It wasn’t only the figures of 3-28 that gave spectators reason to smile that Aussie Mitchell Starc had finally landed in the country and was available to play. The tall left-armer bowled with pace, rhythm and accuracy and at the death bowled a good Yorker.

JAMES BUTTLER

YORKSHIRE CARNEGIE SQUAD

Andrew GALE (capt), Adam LYTH, Phil JAQUES, Gary BALANCE, Joe ROOT, Anthony McGRATH, Gerard BROPHY (wk), Azeem RAFIQ, Mitchell STARC, Moin ASHRAF,  Adil RASHID and Ryan SIDEBOTTOM.

Andrew Gale plays after his shoulder settled down and did not require treatment. Iain Wardlaw has been withdrawn from the squad after suffering back stiffness.

SUSSEX SHARKS SQUAD

Amjad Khan, WAT Beer. BC Brown (wk). JS Gatting, MW Goodwin, EC Joyce, CJ Liddle, MW Machan, CD Nash, MS Panesar, KO Wernars, LJ Wright and MH Yardy (capt).