Sharks blunt Unicorns

The ECB Unicorns suffered a late batting collapse as the Sussex Sharks notched their second Clydesdale Bank 40 win.

Kirtley and Naved spark late Unicorns' collapse

The ECB Unicorns suffered a late batting collapse as the Sussex Sharks notched their second Group A win in the Clydesdale Bank 40 at Hove. James Kirtley was the Sharks' hero with the ball as the 35-year-old fast bowler took four wickets in eight balls late on to halt the Unicorns' bid to reach a target of 256. He claimed the wickets of Josh Knappett, Wes Durston, Glenn Querl and Jahid Ahmed as the Unicorns collapsed from 207-4 to 211 all out, with Rana Naved picking up the wickets of Neil Hancock and Tom Mees at the other end. Their heroics meant the Unicorns lost their last six wickets for four runs in 14 balls to lose by 44 runs with 10 balls to spare. The collapse came after the Unicorns had built a solid platform thanks to knocks from Jackson Thompson (43) and Michael O'Shea.(44), while Durston top-scored with 51. Earlier, the Sharks had scored 255-6, with Chris Nash and Matt Prior posting 47 in the first six overs after Sussex had been put in. But Prior was caught by wicketkeeper Knappett off a top-edged drive and Sussex never regained the momentum despite good contributions from Nash and skipper Murray Goodwin. Nash hit eight fours and a six in his 81 off 77 balls while Goodwin notched 56 off 49 balls with a six and four boundaries.